Mayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre
by SayaLeigh-moved
Summary: Original Version  New band Mayonaka Soñodora moves to Seattle, where they meet the band who inspired them, Cinema Bizarre.  Will something more than friendship blossom between the bands?
1. Last Night at Home

**A/N: **I know they've broken up & all, but I wanted to finish this anyway. If anyone likes our band, we'd love it if someone would write a fic. Yeah?**  
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><p><strong>Mayonaka Sonodora Meets Cinema Bizarre-Saya's POV<strong>

**1-Last Night At Home**

The sun was still high in the sky as I pulled up in front of Cho's house in my silver '08 Toyota Camry Solara SLE Coupe. I turned it off, instantly stopping "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" by Lady Gaga, which had been playing loudly. I got out, taking a small Hot Topic bag with me. Cho got out of her black '08 Dodge Ram 2500 ST parked in front of me and looked back. Ai, Bachiko, and Fuji pulled in behind us, each in their own vehicles.

"Hey Cho, do you have any food we could eat as soon as we get inside?" Bachiko asked, stepping out of her yellow '09 Toyota Tacoma.

"C'mon Bachiko, you've already got poptarts!" Ai complained, referring to the bag in Bachiko's hand as she climbed out of her dark blue '09 Ford F-150 XL pickup. Bachiko looked back at her and grinned shamelessly.

"Ok, who else wants food?" Cho asked with a sigh.

"Me!" called Fuji as she slammed the door of her red '09 Toyota Avalon Limited and I nodded. A big smile materialized on Ai's face at the same time, though she'd just reprimanded Bachiko. Cho laughed at us and led the way inside, straight to the kitchen.

Without waiting for an invitation, Bachiko and I threw open the doors of the fridge. Fuji joined us to make sure we got out more than just junk food. Cho laughed again and hooked her iPod up to the speakers in the living room to play "Right Round" by Flo Rida feat. Kesha. She and Ai started dancing as a tub of ice cream, some chocolate cake, tortillas, fried chicken, and apple juice was pulled out of Cho's fridge. Then Bachiko went to get the peanut butter to add to our pile.

"_You spin my head right round, right round, when you go down, when you go down, down!" belted Flo Rida's voice from the speakers, closely followed by a repeat in Kesha's voice. Bachiko and I started singing along until we all dug into the strange assortment of food. Even Fuji, who was slightly hesitant at first, started scarfing things down._

When we were done eating (more like 'when the food was gone') we went up to Cho's huge room to put our stuff aside and just dance. The room was more empty than I had ever seen it. All that was left was the desk (organized and looking like a desk for once), the whiteboard (clear for the first time since I'd met her), the bed, and the mirror. Cho walked down the hall to her sister's room and grabbed her CD player, which she set up on the desk.

"Hey Saya, give me a CD!" she called. I reached into my Hot Topic bag and pulled out the CD I'd stuck in_-MYV POPS by Miyavi. I tossed it to her and she put it into the player and turned up the volume just as her sisters (our little fans) Manda and Bailey entered the room. They ran to us with loud greetings and we all started dancing as "Are You Ready To ROCK" began. We spent almost an hour dancing to the loud, fast beats of the songs on _MYV POPS. We couldn't really understand the songs since most of the words were in Japanese, but it left our minds free to dance.__

When the CD ended Cho took it out and gave it back to me. I put it away as she put in a mix CD of Ai's. We all jumped right back into the dancing as "Circus" by Britney Spears began. "Circus" was soon followed by "Untouched," "Right Round," "Cyclone," "Dysfunctional Family," "Touch My Body," "Hot N Cold," "Face Down," "Take Me On The Floor," "Buttons," "Take A Bow," "Decode," and "Hit Me Up."

Cho had already gotten out the first Cinema Bizarre CD, _Final Attraction, before the last notes of "Hit Me Up" faded. She put it in and "Lovesongs (They Kill Me)" started. We danced, talked, laughed, sang, and fantasized about Cinema Bizarre (well, I don't think Bachiko or Fuji did...) as the CD played._

When "The Silent Place" ended, Cho put in _Best Fiction by Namie Amuro for Bachiko. Bachiko danced on her own for most of the songs, like "Do Me More" and "Put 'Em Up." Namie was also a dancer, so she made music that was easy to dance to. That's why Bachiko had liked the music since I had introduced her to it three years ago._

_Best Fiction ended around 9:00 PM and we decided that Fuji's CD would be the last one we played. Manda and Bailey went to bed and we put in _The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch by Cute Is What We Aim For. My favorite songs were "Practice Makes Perfect," "The Curse Of Curves," and "The Fourth Drink Instinct."__

When our final disc ended, we went down to the living room and turned on _Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which my parents had given me on DVD since the five of us were moving to Seattle. None of us fell asleep during _Monty Python, but Bachiko and Fuji dropped off during _Sweeny Todd, which we watched next. I don't know who fell asleep last, but I let myself pass out at the beginning of _Howl's Moving Castle. I loved the movie, but for some reason it put me to sleep if I watched it too late.____

|\/| $

"Saya! Hey Saya, wake up!" a voice hissed above me as someone shook me awake. I opened my eyes and blinked a couple time to clear them before I recognized Ai in the darkness of the living room.

"C'mon, we're gonna go wake up Jim," she told me in a whisper.

I sat up eagerly. We had been planning to give Ai's neighbor a rude wake-up call for the last three years. I looked around and saw that Bachiko and Cho were already awake and trying to rouse Fuji, who finally rose up like a drunk man with a glass bottle of green tea in one hand. Everyone but Fuji burst out laughing at the sight.

I got up and looked down at my clothes, since I was pretty sure none of us had changed before falling asleep. Sure enough, I was still wearing light jeans, my long-sleeved red-and-white striped shirt and one of Fuji's black jackets. I hadn't even taken off my high-tops.

Bachiko was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt under a bright yellow shirt that had once been Ai's...probably still was, actually. She was also wearing baggy black capris and high-tops. Her hair was pulled up and I could see bright yellow hair extensions from Hot Topic contrasting with her dark hair.

Ai wore light grey skinny-jeans, a black t-shirt with random designs in neon colors, high-tops, and bright blue net armwarmers from Claire's. Her long blonde hair was set in a high ponytail and her face was bare of makeup.

Cho's hair was pulled back and clipped into place. Her makeup from the night before was smeared around her eyes, but no one bothered to tell her. She wore a plain white shirt and black leggings under a black mini-skirt. She also wore high-tops.

When Fuji sat up, I could see that she wore loose jeans and an oversized t-shirt tied up to fit her slim body. Her hair was a honey-blonde mess around her face but she just pushed it out of her face before standing.

Five minutes later we piled into two of our trucks and headed towards Ai's house. I sat in the backseat of Cho's truck with Fuji in the passenger seat and Cho herself driving. Bachiko and Ai were behind us in Bachiko's little yellow truck. At two minutes to four, we pulled up in front of Ai's house.

I got out on Fuji's side and we all pulled assorted noisemakers out of the back of Cho's truck. Once we all had our "equipment," we turned to look at Bachiko. She glanced at us as if trying to find a way out of the job we'd given her, then sighed. Taking a deep breath, she shouted "WAKE UP, JIM!"

The rest of us joined in with yelling, clapping, banging cymbals together, etc. Withing seconds we had woken up pretty much the whole cul-de-sac.

"JIM, IT'S TIME TO GET UP!" Cho was yelling when the man poked his head out the window to glare at us.

"What do you think you're doing?" he snarled as we all pasted on angelic smiles.

"We just thought you'd like a wake-up call," I told him in a too-sweet voice. Still glaring but unable to come up with a response, he withdrew back into the house.

In the time we had before he pulled out of the garage, we put the noisy stuff back into the truck and put on watches that had stopped working who-knows-how-long ago.

When Jim backed his car out into the driveway, we were all lined up just outside his property line. He stopped and rolled the window down, probably intending to bitch at us, and we all began speaking in a perfectly synchronized monotone.

"Hello Jim. You are-" we lifted our right arms and pretended to study our wrists "-two minutes late."

Jim stared at us as if unable to comprehend how we could be such freaks. Then he just rolled up the window and drove away. We watched in absolute silence until he was out of sight, then we burst out laughing. Then we piled back into the trucks before anyone else could yell at us and drove back to Cho's.

When we got back, we went up to Cho's room, grabbed blankets and pillows, and flopped. Bachiko took the bed, and everyone else ended up on the floor. I curled up, turned on some Japanese music, and fell asleep sometime during Namie Amuro's "It's All For You."

|\/| $

The pale grey light of early dawn bathed Cho's room when I woke up again. As I sat up, I realized "Dear My Friend" by Miyavi was playing on my iPod. No one else was awake, so I laid back down and just listened to my music. I'd gone through "Dear My Friend," "Hello" and "Sweet 19 Blues" by Namie Amuro, "Akane" by Nightmare, "Chizuru" by The GazettE, and "Selfish Love" by Miyavi before I noticed that Fuji was stirring.

She sat up, blinking, and started shaking Ai. Ai tried to shoo her away, but she persisted and our guitarist finally sat up.

"What time is it?" she grumbled.

I checked my iPod, where I'd set the time into the title. "6:08," I reported. Ai sighed.

"We should probably wake Cho and Bachiko so we can get going," Fuji remarked. We sat still for a few minutes, then I threw my pillow at Cho and dragged myself from the warmth of the blankets to wake Bachiko. Cho stirred when the pillow hit her, so Fuji picked it up and started whacking her with it until she woke.

I poked Bachiko until she rolled over. Since that tactic didn't appear to be working, I put one of my headphones in her ear and turned the volume all the way up. She jumped and the other all looked at us as "Sexy Girl" by Namie Amuro could suddenly be heard.

"Ow," Bachiko remarked, rubbing her ear even as she started to dance to the still-audiable music.

Ai picked up her bag and headed into the bathroom. At the same time, Cho went into her closet and shut the door. Fuji started gathering up the blankets and piling them by the door. Bachiko just sat on the bed, half asleep. I crawled over to my bag, picked it up, and realized that something was wrong.

"Where's _MYV POPS?" I asked, looking up. Fuji shrugged, but Bachiko just smiled. I stared at her._

"I wanted to listen to 'Señor Señora Señorita,'" she said defensively.

"As long as nothing happens to it."

Cho came out of the closet wearing ripped jeans and a bright red t-shirt. Her long reddish-brown hair was down and her huge sunglasses were characteristically perched on top of her head. She immediatly walked over to the mirror to remove the smuged remains of her makeup. Fuji grabbed her things and went into the closet now that it was free.

Ai came back into the room a few minutes later. She was wearing her favorite black half-jacket over a hot pink shirt with small black skulls all over it. She also wore black skinny-jeans and her usual high-tops. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail with hot pink temporary dye brushed in. Her makeup consisted of foundation, hot pink eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and clear lip gloss.

Picking up my Hot Topic bag, I headed into the now-open bathroom. I put on a white-and-gold Namie Amuro t-shirt and black skinny-jeans. I pulled my long black hair up into a ponytail, except for the chin-length parts which framed my face. I quickly applied foundation and when back into Cho's room, since Ai liked to do everyone's makeup.

Bachiko was nowhere in sight when I entered the room. Ai was sitting on her knees, applying red eyeshadow to Cho's eyelids. Fuji sat on the bed. Her hair was in a low ponytail looped over her shoulder, and Ai had already applied dark blue and light purple eyeshadow to her eyes. She was also smacking her lips, so I knew she had lip gloss on. She wore loose pants again and my old bright blue ocelot-patterned t-shirt under the jacket I'd worn yesterday.

A few minutes later Bachiko walked out of the closet wearing a sky blue tanktop and dark grey skinny-jeans. Her hair was, as usual, in a loose, messy ponytail. She was barefoot, but the first thing she did after putting down yesterday's clothes was walk over to the bed and put on her black high-tops.

Ai finished our makeup a half-hour later. Cho's was red, lined with silver. Bachiko's was light blue mixed with lime green and dark blue eyeliner. My eyes were silver and gold with thick black eyeliner. Ai had put the same clear lip gloss on all five of us.

When all our stuff was packed up, we stood by the door and stared at the empty room.

"Ready to go?" Bachiko asked finally. We all nodded and headed out to our vehicles.

I dropped my bag in front of the passenger seat in my Camry, since the seat itself was taken up by a cardboard box full of stuffed animals. Yes, stuffed animals. I'd gotten rid of most of the ones I used to have, but I kept my favorites and my plushies. I knew my pink panther, Pepto, and my mini panda, Strify, were right on top. Cocoa, Bernadine, Near, Sasori, Patch, L, Matt, Mello, Deidara, Kakashi, Grey, and others were also stuffed into the box.

Fuji, who could read a map best, led the way out of the driveway. Ai followed, then me, Bachiko, and finally Cho. We were on our way to Seattle.


	2. On the Road

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**2-On the Road**

Before we had even left the side road that led from Cho's house to the main road, I had taken _The Fame_ by Lady GaGa out of my CD player and put in _The Open Door_ by Evanescence. When the CD began, the clock read 7:02.

|\/| $

"The Speed Star" by Namie Amuro blared from my phone, signaling that Bachiko was calling, as I sang along to "Call Me When You're Sober." I paused the music and picked up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry, so Ai said we could stop at IHOP. Then we're going to Starbucks," she told me.

"Ok," I replied as my stomach growled. We hung up and about 5 minutes later I pulled into the parking lot of the IHOP in Bellevue, Idaho behind Ai. It was 8:28.

Bachiko's window was open and when I got out, I could hear "Señor Señora Señorita" playing until she turned off the truck's engine. The five of us headed into the IHOP together and got a table. We ordered, then talked about what we were going to do when we first got to Seattle as we waited for the food. No one spoke much as we ate, then we paid, left, and walked to Starbucks.

At Starbucks, I ordered hot chocolate since I wasn't much of a coffee fan. Ai bought her usual iced coffee and the others got assorted drinks with coffee in them.

After Starbucks we got back in our vehicles and left Bellevue. When _The Open Door_ ended for the second time, I put in _Miyaviuta-Dokusou _by Miyavi. One of my favorite songs by Miyavi, and then first one I'd heard by him, was "Selfish Love." Miyavi was an interesting person and I loved his music. I also knew he was married to one of my favorite J-pop artists, melody..

Reminded of melody. by Miyavi, I put in her CD _Be As One_ when _Miyaviuta-Dokusou_ ended. The only song on the CD I was able to sing along to was "realize."

My phone rang again just as the last song on the CD ended. This time the song was "Dysfunctional Family" by Cinema Bizarre, so I knew the caller was Ai.

"What's up?" I asked, taking out _Be As One_.

"We're gonna stop for lunch and some gas," she told me.

"'K. Where are we?" I asked. I knew we had passed into Washington a little while ago, but that was it.

"Pullman," Ai told me.

We hung up a little while later and pulled into a Burger King. We all went in again and got a ton of food. People stared at us as we sat down and dug in. We ignored them.

"How much longer do you think it will take to get to Seattle?" Bachiko asked through a mouthful of fry.

Fuji checked her watch. "It's 11:45 now, and we should be there at about 10:30 tonight. That means we have at least 11 hours, even if we stop a few more times."

I groaned. Being on the road for hours on end drove me crazy. Ai sighed too, and we all finished eating.

"Broken Leash" by Princess Ai started playing from my pocket as we left Burger King. My eyes widened.

"Oh shit!" I hissed, scrambling to get the phone out.

"Who is it?" Ai whispered.

"Tiffany," I replied in a whisper. Ai rolled her eyes.

"Tiff?" I asked quickly, answering.

"Hey Saya!" she replied cheerfully, "What'cha doin'?"

"Um...leaving Burger King," I replied evasively.

"Can Jackie and I meet you at the mall?" she asked.

"I don't know where the mall is here, if there is one. We're in Pullman, Washington," I replied.

There was total silence on the other end of the line. I winced slightly, having realized that I'd forgotten to tell two of my best friends that I was moving. When I realized that, I felt like shit.

"What are you doing there?" Tiffany managed.

"I'm on my way to Seattle. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you, but Ai, Bachiko, Fuji, and I are moving there."

"How could you forget to tell me?" Tiff asked, sounding hurt.

"We forgot to tell pretty much everyone other than our parents and Nathan," I remembered.

"How come Nathan knew?" she demanded.

"He was our techie guy," I reminded her.

"Oh...yeah," she said.

"Hey, I'm gonna hand the phone over to Cho, 'k? It's my turn to pump gas," I told her, since we'd driven over to the gas station while I talked to her.

"Fine," she sighed, still sounding glum.

"Wasabi?" I heard Cho say when I handed the phone over. Then I focused all my attention into the gas I was putting into my Camry.

"Jackie said she was going to call you later," Cho reported as she handed the phone back to me when I was done. Tiffany had already hung up, so I put the phone on my dashboard when I got back into the car.

There was no communication whatsoever for the next three hours or so. Jackie didn't call and no one felt the need to stop anywhere. I listened to all the songs on _The World Ruler_ by Nightmare, _Uroboros_ by Dir en grey, and _Final Attraction_. Then "Dysfunctional Family" blared from my phone again. I paused "Heavensent" and picked it up.

"Ai?"

"I need some gas, so we're pulling into the next town," she said.

"Ok," I responded.

We stopped at another small gas station with a small convenience store. Bachiko and I handed our keys over to Cho and headed inside.

Bachiko and I grabbed several items: bags of chips, sodas, cookies, etc. We even got a bag of trail mix and a bottle of green tea for Fuji. We paid and left, taking the food out to where our bandmates had parked our vehicles. Pulling down the tailgates, we sat in the backs of Ai's and Cho's trucks to eat.

"Only eight hours to go," I grumbled with false enthusiasm.

"I think we're making good time, actually," Cho remarked, "Fuji?"

"Yeah, we cut down our time by an hour and a half at least. Now we only have 6 1/2 hours or so."

Ai, Bachiko, and I cheered. Less time on the road meant more time to do what we wanted.

We each took a bag of chips with us when we got back on the road. Fuji still lead us, but now Cho was behind her, then Bachiko, then me, and Ai last.

|\/| $

We didn't stop until 6 that evening in "We Naughty," Washington. The town's actual name was Wenatchee, but Bachiko had decided to change it. On the road, I listened to _RIOT!_ by Paramore, _Minutes to Midnight_ by Linkin Park, and _Paint The Sky With Stars_ by Enya.

"All The Things She Said" by t.A.T.u. blasted from my phone as "The Celts" began on the CD. I paused the song and answered the phone.

"Dinnertime?" I asked immediately.

"Yup," Cho answered, "We're gonna stop at Olive Garden."

"Ok," I said. She hung up and I followed Bachiko into the parking lot of Wenatchee's Olive Garden.

"What time will we get to Seattle now?" Ai asked a while later, as we waited for food.

"Around 8:30," Fuji replied. I did the math in my head. We'd cut off another half-hour at least.

We ate everything we got and each got our own desserts, which we shared (Ok, so maybe it would be better defined as stealing from each other). Then we were back on the road for what was (hopefully) the last stretch. It was about 7:15.

As we covered the final stretch I listened to _Hybrid Theory_ by Linkin Park and _Final Attraction _again. Then, since we were nearing Seattle, I decided to play with the radio to see if I could find a good station. My jaw dropped when I came across "Tears In Vegas" by Cinema Bizarre.

I was going to love Seattle.

|\/| $

The Sheraton Seattle Hotel looked incredible when we pulled up to it at exactly 8:45. I opened the box of stuffed animals to pull out Pepto and Strify before getting out of the Camry. From the backseat I got my suitcase and makeup, then met Bachiko and Fuji by the hotel doors. All they had were their suitcases. Bachiko rolled her eyes at the sight of my Fuji by the hotel doors. All they had were their suitcases. Bachiko rolled her eyes at the sight of my panther and panda, then we headed inside.

Cho had already gotten the key cards to the Union Street Tower Double Double, so we went right up.

The room was huge, but we were all too weary to appreciate it just then. We changed quickly, hoping to fall into bed as soon as possible.

Ai changed into a white tanktop and royal purple shorts. Bachiko put on a black tanktop and old red plaid pajama pants. Cho put on a loose grey t-shirt and black sweatpants. Fuji dropped into bed wearing a loose dark green t-shirt and dark blue pajama pants. I changed into a plain, close-fitting black t-shirt and dark red pajama pants with little black skulls and crossbones on them.

I put my iPod on shuffle, curled up beside Ai on one of the beds, and fell asleep to "I Caught Myself" by Paramore.


	3. Seattle

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**3****-Seattle**

The weak sunlight streaming through the suite's windows and falling across my face was what woke me the next morning. Ai was still asleep beside but Bachiko was in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. Cho wasn't there, so I figured she was in the bathroom or something. Fuji was also asleep, spread out on the bed across the room.  
>I paused my iPod, which was now playing "Face Down" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and set it aside.<br>"Morning Sunshine," Cho chirped sarcastically as she walked back into the room. Apparently she'd been getting a soda from the machine in the hall, judging by the Dr. Pepper she had in one hand.  
>Noticing her sarcastic tone, I glanced at the clock on the table beside me.<br>1:37.  
>"Morning," I laughed sheepishly.<br>Ai turned over and kicked out, as she had been doing all night. I ignored it, since Ai had been having nightmares since before I'd met her. Then I received a sharp kick to my leg as Ai began to thrash. I helped and the others looked at me just as I got another kick, this time in the small of my back. Ai screamed suddenly and we all crowded around her. Her screams increased in frequency and so did her kicks. Bachiko winced as she got a foot to the ribs, and I was pretty sure I'd have a bruise on my upper arm. It took us a few minutes to wake her up.

We finally left our suite about an hour later. Ai had recovered from the revelations of her nightmare and was feeling better. Before we'd left, we'd decided to explore our hotel and later go to the mall.  
>I was wearing a black tanktop under a grey jacket today. I was also wearing dark blue skinny-jeans and my usual high-tops. I'd left my hair down but hadn't straightened it, so it was severely wavy today. Ai had been in the shower for over half an hour today, so I'd done my makeup and Fuji's. My eye makeup was dark grey with silver highlights and black eyeliner.<br>Ai was wearing a black t-shirt with rows of stylized white skulls on it. She wore jeans capris and her high-tops. Her hair was straightened and pulled up with bright blue dye brushed in. She had on silver eyeshadow and blue eyeliner.  
>Cho was dressed in a black tanktop like mine and cutoff shorts. She also wore black high-tops, and all the skin showing was slightly tan. She had on black eyeliner, pale green eyeshadow, and stars drawn by her eyes in purple eyeliner.<br>Bachiko had put on her own makeup and gotten ahold of some sparkle powder, so her face shone with light bluish-purple sparkles. She also wore white skinny-jeans with a black t-shirt with some random design on it. As usual, she was wearing high-tops.  
>Fuji was wearing a bluish-white spaghetti-strap tanktop, which indicated the way her style had changed over the last three years. Her hair was in a side ponytail and she was also wearing jeans and sneakers. I'd done her makeup to reflect what she was wearing; it was bluish-white with pale green highlights and blue eyeliner.<br>Our first stop once we left our room was In Short Order, the hotel restaurant. We ate lunch and talked with the girl who waited on us. She said she'd heard some of the music we'd posted on the Internet and she loved the way we sounded. We gave her a tip slightly larger than we usually did and left the restaurant.  
>It didn't take long to explore the hotel, but at one point we realized it was unusually quite-Bachiko was missing. We found her trying to convince a room service guy to give her the cookie on his cart. He refused, so she went over to a vending machine and got another cookie.<br>It was drizzling when we walked outside and got into our vehicles. I started up the Camry and "Tears In Vegas" was on the radio again. "In the End" by Linkin Park was playing when we got to the mall.  
>"Hey Saya, did you hear 'Tears In Vegas' on the radio?" Cho asked when she got out of her truck.<br>"Yeah," I said with a smile.  
>"What! What station?" Ai asked quickly. We told her and she quickly started up her truck and changed the station before we went in. Fuji changed the station in her truck too, since "Tears In Vegas" was on of her favorite songs.<br>Our first stop in the mall was Sun Hut, an exclusively sunglasses store, because Cho wanted another pair of sunglasses. After that we headed to Hot Topic, Zumiez, and Barnes & Noble. I picked up a copy of Red Chrysanthemum, the eleventh book in one of my favorite series.  
>A limo was waiting outside the mall when we walked out.<br>"Who do you you think gets to ride in that?" Cho asked. We all glanced at each other and shrugged, then walked back to our own vehicles and drove back to the hotel. It was about 5:30 when we got back to the room. We just hung out for about 45 minutes. I read, since I'd grabbed Red Chrysanthemum's predecessing book, The Assassin's Touch, from my car.  
>"What are we doing for dinner?" Bachiko asked after a while.<br>"We should go to that Chinese place around the corner," Ai suggested. We all agreed and went to eat. The place turned out to be really good, and we were all full and happy when we dropped into bed that night.


	4. DJ Robb

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**4****-DJ Robb**

The five of us got our instruments out of the trucks the next day. My mic was in Bachiko's truck, since there really wasn't much room in my car. We all helped Fuji carry in her drums. We went back up to the room and set up to practice.  
>"What should we work on first?" Bachiko asked.<br>"How about 'Voices In My Head?'" I suggested.  
>We all agreed and Fuji started playing the beat on the drums. Cho joined in on bass and then Ai with guitar. Bachiko and I waited for a few more beats before we added vocals.<br>"I hear sounds no one else does!"  
>The beat changed on the drums and the bass parts slowed down as we continued.<br>"Cries of sorrow, cries of pain! Can't hold on any longer! I'm falling down tonight!"  
>The original tune picked up again as we went into the chorus, where my part split from Bachiko's.<br>"Whispers in the darkness!" I sang.  
>"In the darkness!" Bachiko echoed.<br>"Music in the silence!" I started before she finished.  
>"In the silence!" she echoed again.<br>"Voices in my head!" I continued.  
>"In my head!" she added.<br>"Can't get away!"  
>"They're driving my crazy!"<br>"Can't get away!"  
>"Can't get away!"<br>We went silent and just listened to the others play, then slow down. A few beats later I began singing again.  
>"'Come on, come on' they say," I sang at mezzopiano.<br>"Come with me," Fuji, Ai, and Cho sang.  
>"'Come on, come on' they whisper," Bachiko sang in the same dynamic.<br>"Follow me," the others sang again.  
>"Am I dying? Am I going insane?" Bachiko and I sang again before the tune picked up again for the chorus.<br>"Whispers in the darkness!"  
>"In the darkness!"<br>"Music in the silence!"  
>"In the silence!"<br>"Voices in my head!"  
>"In my head!"<br>"Can't get away!"  
>"They're driving my crazy!"<br>"Can't get away!"  
>"Can't get away!"<br>There was another pause where our bandmates played a little faster, with a little more intensity.  
>"I can no longer hear you! All I hear is them!" I cried.<br>"They tell me that you left me! They say I'm all alone!" Bachiko sang at a forte.  
>"Someone please save me!" the five of us sang together.<br>Cho, Ai, and Fuji began playing random beats as loudly as possible, increasing the chaos of the song. Then they stopped and it was silent for a few seconds.  
>"Can you hear me now?" Bachiko and I whispered at the same time.<br>We were silent for a moment when the song ended.  
>"Dude...that was sweet," Bachiko said finally.<br>Someone knocked on the door as we all nodded.  
>"Think we were being too loud?" Cho asked.<br>"Probably," I replied, heading towards the door. I opened it to reveal a man dressed in baggy black pants, sneakers, a white muscle shirt, and a baseball cap, like a wannabe gangster.  
>"Hi," Ai said from behind me, "Were we being too loud?"<br>"If you were, I'm glad," the guy said, "I'm DJ Rob. I was visiting a Cherry Tree client when I heard the song. Is it yours?"  
>"Yeah," Cho told him, "We're Mayonaka Soñodora."<br>"Midnight Dreamer," DJ Rob commented appreciatively. We all nodded.  
>"Do you have any other songs?" he asked. We nodded again.<br>"Several," Cho added.  
>"Can I hear one? I might be able to get you a record deal with Cherry Tree," he continued.<br>"Um...ok. By the way, I'm Ai Phoenix," Ai told him.  
>"Nice to meet you. And the rest of you?"<br>"Saya Olson."  
>"Bachiko Phoenix."<br>"Cho Kale."  
>"Fuji."<br>"Nice to meet you guys too. What can you play for me?" he asked with a smile.  
>"How about 'Never There?'" Ai suggested to us.<br>We agreed and went back to our instruments.  
>Ai and Cho struck up a good tune in a minor key about the same time as Fuji started playing. Then Bachiko and I joined in.<br>"You weren't there when I needed you! You weren't around when I broke in two! You were gone when my world fell apart! Can you tell me why I have a broken heart?"  
>DJ Rob listened closely as the tempo picked up.<br>"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!  
>"What's your excuse? Hell, it's no use! You'll never change your ways, leaving me in my dark dreary days!<br>"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!"  
>Our tempo slowed again and in the next verse I tried to express all the pain that could be felt into words.<br>"I know I'm not perfect. I never said I was. And if you expected more, then I have to say goodbye."  
>We went into the chorus again, picking up the tempo.<br>"Alway missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!  
>"I should've known it would come to this! I could see it in your eyes! You still blame it all on me! You still hide in your disguise!<br>"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!  
>"You played me for a fool and I believed your perfect lies! I don't need you at all! Just the truth I never told! Never said a word and yet it's all about to unfold!"<br>The sound changed but the tempo stayed the same for the last couple verses.  
>"You finally made it! Congratulations, here you are! But it's too late now! I found somebody else!<br>"They have never lied to me! They were always there waiting in the wings! Unlike you, they keep their promises! I can promise you one thing! This is the final goodbye!"  
>"Goodbye!" Bachiko echoed on her own.<br>DJ Rob opened and closed his mouth as he stared at us. We turned off amps and other electronics as we waited for him to find his voice.  
>"That was...wow. Powerful," he commented finally. I smiled.<br>We exchanged numbers and he told us he'd call if anything came up for us. I set "Take Me Away" by Avril Lavigne as the ringtone.

Two weeks later, I was woken by "Take Me Away" blaring from my phone, which was on the table beside me.  
>"Hello?" I asked groggily, answering the phone one I'd recovered from the shock.<br>"Hey Saya, it's DJ Rob. The studio agreed to let you guys do a little recording. If they  
>Iike the first song, they'll let you record four more. 'K?"<br>"Yeah, that sounds great," I told him.  
>"Ok. And once the songs are recorded, we can put them on a CD and sell it at the first concert you guys play at."<br>"Sweet. What time?" I asked.  
>"We can start at noon. Do you know where the Cherry Tree studio is?" DJ Rob continued.<br>"Yeah, we pass it all the time," I told him.  
>"Ok. See you later." He hung up. I didn't think I would be able to get any more sleep, so I rolled out of bed (quite literally) and went to take a shower.<br>We were ready at about 11:15, with just enough time left to eat and get over to Cherry Tree. I wore a plain blue t-shirt and black net arm warmers with light jeans. My hair was pulled up into a ponytail and loose strands were pinned up. My makeup was light blue eyeshadow with the usual black eyeliner.  
>Bachiko was, a usual, dressed in a blinding array of color. Her shirt was hot pink, her jacket was black with neon green stripes, she had orange skinny-jeans, her hair was held back with a bright blue headband, and her makeup was purple with silver eyeliner.<br>Ai was trying to reflect the style of Yu, Cinema Bizarre's guitarist, again. She wore black skinny-jeans, her high tops, a red t-shirt, and a black vest. Her hair was down and straightened with black lowlights today. Her makeup was faded red and black flicked up to the eyebrow and black eyeliner.  
>Fuji was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a colorful scarf...Cho's, I think. She was also wearing grey skinny-jeans and high-tops, with her hair clipped back from her face.<br>Cho was wearing a loose black t-shirt and black sweatpants. The hood she was wearing with the hood pulled up was also black. Her hair, hidden at the moment as we crossed the street to the studio, was pulled into a 1/2 ponytail. She was also wearing a ratty old pair of sneakers that somehow still fit.  
>DJ Rob met us just inside the door, dressed much like he had been the first time we saw him. He greeted us, then led us to an office. DJ Rob introduced us to the man inside, J. Carter. We talked, though I wasn't paying much attention, then went to the actual recording part of the studio.<br>Ai went in with her acoustic guitar first to play the lullaby tune for "Midnight Dreamers." She brought her iPod, which had a version of the song (recorded for us by Nathan) on it, so she would know where to start, stop, etc.  
>Che went in next with her first bass guitar, which was like an old friend. Ai gave her the iPod for the same reason. DJ Rob and J. Carter were already looking appreciative. Fuji went next, then Bachiko, and then it was my turn. Bachiko handed Ai's iPod to me and I went in, shivering with nerves.<br>I pressed play on the iPod and the familiar notes of the lullaby calmed me. I stayed silent throughout the spoken verse at the beginning, since it had already been taken care of. It finally got to my first lines and I began to sing.  
>"Broken doors, shattered windows."<br>"Stars replace the sky," came Bachiko's voice from the iPod.  
>"Taking this chance to get to where you and I hide! So come with me," I sang, picking up then dropping off again to listen to Bachiko's line.<br>"We'll show you what it's like!" I sang, finishing the verse.  
>"Waiting for the day to come, I'm finding out what it's like to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, just gotta break away until midnight. Midnight dreamers, mid-day bringers, tell us where we gotta stand tonight!"<br>I paused again to listen to the spoken parts and prepare myself for the next part, where my voice switched off with Bachiko's again.  
>"Now we're out of that lifeless dark. It's time to make way...So come with me...We'll show you what it's like!<br>"Waiting for the day to come, I'm finding out what it's like to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, jus gotta break away until midnight. Midnight dreamers, mid-day bringers, tell us where we gotta stand tonight!...The night has slipped on by...And now I begin to cry...So come with me...We'll show you what it's like to dream to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, just gotta break away until midnight."  
>I stayed silent, listening to the tune of the instruments as I waited for the last verse.<br>"Waiting for the day to come, we found what it's like, seeking out our troubles and bringing them to light! Darkness from day, just gotta break away! Darkness from day, ooh whoa yeah! Darkness from day, just gotta break away! Until midnight..."  
>I finished the song and looked up. J and DJ Rob were nodding in approval. Everyone else was just grinning. I left the room, then J and DJ Rob went to put the parts together, leaving the five of us to talk.<br>"Do you think they'll try to change us?" Ai asked.  
>"I don't think so. There was nothing Bout it in the contract," Fuji remarked.<br>"What contract?" Bachiko asked with her usual blank look.  
>"The one you signed in the office," I told her.<br>"Oh! That one!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up in a familiar gesture.  
>We all rolled our eyes at her just as J and DJ Rob came back into the room.<br>"It's good," DJ Rob told us as J walked over to a computer.  
>"How good?" Fuji asked.<br>"Good enough that we want you to record the other four," J told us, hitting the "play" button on the computer.  
>Our jaws dropped as "Midnight Dreamers" began to play. We'd heard the entire song before, but with this equipment it was much clearer. The five of us were speechless.<br>"So," J said finally, "do you guys mind recording the rest today?"  
>We shook our heads and got started on "Voices In My Head," "Never There," "Shadow Of My Reflection," and "Wild Ride." All the versions were rough, but they could be improved over time.<br>We finished at six and went home. All five songs had been recorded, though only "Midnight Dreamers" had been pieced together. We went back to the hotel, ate at In Short Order again, and went up to bed.


	5. Opening Act

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**5****-Opening Act**

Another week had passed before "Take Me Away" blared from my phone again. Fuji, Bachiko, Ai and I were sitting in the room, but Cho was out in the hall, getting sodas for all of us. I grabbed for the phone so quickly I knocked it off the table and onto the floor. I finally managed to answer just as Cho entered the room.  
>"'Ello?" I asked breathlessly.<br>"Are you ok Saya? You sound a little out of breath," he asked.  
>"I kinda...fell over," I explained simply.<br>DJ Rob laughed heartily for a while. I waited for him to calm down. "Anyway, I was calling to say I got you a spot as the opening act for the 7:30 concert at The Market tomorrow," he told me.  
>"Sweet! Who are we opening for?" I asked.<br>"I don't know," DJ Rob said, "they didn't say."  
>"Oh...ok," I replied.<br>"See you tomorrow night. Get to The Market at 6 cuz you're on at 7." He hung up then.  
>"We've got plans for tomorrow!" I chirped, taking a bottle of Sunkist from Cho.<br>"What are they?" Fuji asked.  
>"We're the opening act for the 7:30 show at The Market," I told them.<br>"Who's playing?" Bachiko asked.  
>"He couldn't find out," I replied.<br>"What time?" Cho asked.  
>"We're on at 7, but we have to be there at 6," I answered again.<br>"Sweet," Ai said.

At exactly 6 the next night, Bachiko pulled open the back door of The Market. Ai walked in first and we went straight to the room where we weed supposed to wait before going on stage. Cho opened the door and stopped dead. Trying to see what was wrong, The rest of us crowded around. When we saw what she was staring at, we all paused too. DJ Rob was inside the room with five familiar androgynous guys-Cinema Bizarre.  
>"Stalker faggots," Bachiko grumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear her.<br>DJ Rob and Cinema Bizarre all blinked.  
>"Stalker faggots? What's she talking about?" asked Shin in his deep voice with it's soft German accent.<br>"Nothing!" Ai squeaked, slapping her hand over Bachiko's mouth a little harder than necessary.  
>"Ow!" Bachiko whined, pulling away. Cinema Bizarre continued to stare at us.<br>"Anyway, you guys, this is Mayonaka Soñodora. Girls, this is Cinema Bizarre," DJ Rob announced.  
>"We know," Cho told him, "Kiro, Strify, Romeo, Yu, and Shin." She pointed to each as she named him.<br>"Well, have fun," DJ Rob said, shrugging, as he left the room, pushed us in, and shut the door.  
>"Hi...I'm Ai," Ai said after a minute.<br>"I'm Cho."  
>"I'm Fuji."<br>"I'm Saya, and this is Bachiko." I introduced Bachiko because at that point she was pouting about being in the same room as Cinema Bizarre.  
>"Nice names," Strify commented.<br>"How do you guys know about us?" Romeo asked.  
>"You guys pretty much inspired us...well, most of us," Ai explained. Bachiko and Fuji nodded, indicating which of us Cinema Bizarre hadn't had an effect on.<br>"How long have you known about us?" Strify asked curiously.  
>"Um...since just a little while after Luminor left," I remembered. Their eyes widened.<br>"That's almost three years," Kiro remarked.  
>"And...?" I asked, since his comment seemed to have no point.<br>"That's long than a lot of people stay interested in bands," Shin explained.  
>"You guys should probably get ready, unless you're planning to go on stage on sweats," Yu commented, referring to the fact that all five of us were dressed in oversized hoods and black sweatpants.<br>"Right..." I replied, glancing down. The five of us left Cinema Bizarre and went into the dressing room. I changed into a black and blue Led Zeppelin t-shirt and black leather pants. I put my high tops back on and pulled my hair back into its usual high ponytail. I also put on a black ribbon choker and several black bracelets. Ai applied black eyeshadow with blue highlights to my eyelids. The black eyeliner she added was in a catlike pattern and another tendril on the right swirled down to my cheekbone.  
>Bachiko left her hair in it's usual ponytail and wore high-tops. She wore teal skinny-jeans and a black t-shirt with royal blue and teal paint splatters. She also wore her usual chain necklace with a black star on it and a black "Wow! You're stupid" wristbands. Her eyeshadow was teal fading to blue and greenish-blue eyeliner that spiked around her eyes.<br>Ai put on black skinny-jeans and a black t-shirt with hot pink skulls on it. She put her hair into a high ponytail and put in black and hot pink dye. On one arm she had rubber bracelets, on the other a black wristband, and around her neck a choker. Her makeup was the reverse of its usual color scheme, black with hot pink highlights and silver eyeliner. Black liquid liner was flicked out on the outside of her eyes to add flair. For this concert, she had brought a black electric guitar.  
>Cho was wearing a black t-shirt with white stars on it and dark blue jeans. She was wearing a new pair of black skater shoes and her new sunglasses were perched on top of her head. She was also wearing a silver ring and had pulled her hair back into a half-ponytail. Her eyeshadow was white and she had black eyeliner. There were also a few stars around her eye drawn on with black eyeliner. She started tuning her white and black guitar once Ai finished her makeup.<br>Most of Fuji's hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but several strands still fell around her face. She was wearing a black-and-white scarf and silver bracelets that mangled when she moved along with light blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt. She was also wearing high-tops and stylized black eyeliner. Ai let her go without eyeshadow this time because we couldn't decide on a color to go with the general color scheme and would still be original.  
>We finished at about 6:40 and went back to the other room. Cinema Bizarre was still there and they greeted us warmly when they saw us.<br>"Shut up," Bachiko growled, still pouting. All nine of us rolled our eyes at her.  
>Ai sat on the arm of one of the couches beside Shin and started tuning her guitar. Yu smiled and walked over to help, though he probably knew Ai didn't need it. She smiled too and let him join her. Fuji and I smiled knowingly at each other, and again when Cho sat on the floor by Kiro, who joined her. Then Fuji started playing with her drumsticks, which somehow turned into talking to Shin.<br>"Hey Saya, wanna warm up?" Bachiko asked, calling me over to the corner where she was now hiding out. Romeo looked up from a small keyboard on his lap, glanced at us, then went back to what he was doing.  
>"Mind if I join you?" Strify asked.<br>"Yes," Bachiko snapped, glaring at him.  
>"Ignore her," I told Strify.<br>Bachiko gave me a look that said "how could you do this to me?," which I ignored. We went into a few warmups, learned a few new ones from Strify, and sang "Sweetly Sings A Donkey," a warmup song we'd learned back in junior high.  
>"What should we do next?" asked Bachiko, since we still had ten minutes.<br>"How about 'The Spinning Song?'" I suggested, naming a German folk song our choir had a lot of fun with in ninth grade. Bachiko tipped her head to the side, asking for another clue to help her remember.  
>"Spinn, spinn?" I asked. She did one of her little recollection dances as all five heads of Cinema Bizarre snapped around to look at us.<br>"You know that song?" Strify asked.  
>"Yeah we sang it in ninth grade in choir," I told him.<br>"Well then, let's hear it," Kiro said, settling back and watching us. Strify went to sit back on one of the couches. I looked at Bachiko, who glanced at me.  
>"I'll sing the soprano part in the round and at the end," I told her.<br>"Ok," she replied.  
>We counted to three in our heads, then started to sing.<br>"Spinn, spinn, miene liebe Tochter, ich kaufe dir'n paar schuh. Ach, ja, meine liebe Mutter, auch schnalen dat zu? Ich kann ya nicht spinnen, es schmertz mir mien finger, und thut, und thut, und thut mir so weh.  
>"Spinn, spinn, miene liebe Tochter, ich kauf dir ein kleidt. Ach, ja, meine liebe Mutter, nicht zu eng und nicht zu weit? Ich kann ya nicht spinnen, es schmertz mich mien finger, und thut, und thut, und thut mir so weh..."<br>We finished the song and turned tentatively to our audience.  
>"Wow. You guys are awesome," Strify said, smiling broadly.<br>"Thanks," I said. Bachiko, instead of ignoring him as I had expected, gave a familiar deep bow.  
>"We should probably get out on stage. We still have to set up," Fuji said.<br>"Good luck," Yu told us, though I suspected it was directed mostly at Ai.  
>"Be careful with the drums," Shin cautioned, "it's my new set."<br>Fuji raised an eyebrow at him. "You brought your own set?" she questioned.  
>Shin shrugged. "It's like a security blanket," he said defensively. Fuji shrugged and we left the room.<br>DJ Rob met us behind the curtains to give us a last word of encouragement.  
>"Almost," I said, looking at Bachiko. She grinned, then turned and ran out onto the stage, straight to one of the microphones.<br>"Hey you! In the third row!" she called, pointing at someone. Several people pointed to themselves in question. "No, not you," Bachiko continued, "The guy next to you! Yes, you! Do you like peanuts?"  
>The crowd erupted into laughter, so no definite answer could be heard in the din, but Bachiko ran off the stage anyway.<br>"Ok, now we're ready," Cho told DJ Rob. He rolled his eyes at us, then waved. We walked out onto the stage to loud cheers that rose to pitches I hadn't even known existed. I walked out to the mic in the center of the stage and faced the crowd.  
>"Hey peoples! Are you ready to hear something better than Bachiko?" I shouted into the mic. The crowd roared as Bachiko shook her head at me, acting offended.<br>"One, two, three, four," Fuji started, and we began performing "Voices In My Head."  
>Bachiko and I danced and sang as we performed not only "Voices In My Head," but also "Midnight Dreamers," "Wild Ride," "Shadow Of My Reflection," and "Never There."<br>When our final song ended, we waved energetically to the crowd and walked off the stage. Cinema Bizarre was just coming out of the "waiting room" as we went to get our stuff.  
>"Nice job," Kiro told us.<br>"Thanks," Ai replied, "Good luck."  
>"Thanks," Yu replied.<br>Kiro suddenly pulled Cho aside and handed something to her. They started to talk and then Kiro pulled out his phone. It took about five minutes, then he rejoined his band. We said our goodbyes, they went on stage, and we packed up and left, most of us wishing we could stay and watch, but too tired to do so.  
>"What did Kiro give you?" I asked Cho when we got back to our hotel room.<br>"Their numbers. He also told me that they're staying in another wing of this hotel," she replied. She pulled out the slip of paper, which had their names and numbers written on it.  
>"And you gave him your number?" I asked, remembering how Kiro had pulled out his phone.<br>"All of our numbers, actually," Cho said.  
>"Nooooo!" Bachiko wailed dramatically. Ai grinned, Fuji rolled her eyes, and I just shrugged.<br>Cho passed around the numbers and we all entered them into ourcontacts, even Bachiko ("The perfect prank call victims," she remarked, grinning in a demented way). Then came the fun part, for me at least: setting the ringtones.  
>For Yu, I decided to use "Are We The Waiting" by Green Day. Romeo got "It's Not My Time" by Three Doors Down. I used "My Last Breath" by Evanescence for Kiro. Shin was "Hallelujah" by Paramore. It took me a while to decide on one for Strify, but I finally used "Seraph Serenade" by Princess Ai.<br>After that, we decided to watch Memoirs of a Geisha until we fell asleep from the utter lack of action in the movie.  
>Absolute silence woke me at about 3 in the morning. Shivering, I went to find my iPod and realized I had a text. I ignored it until I have found the iPod and started the music ("Stand My Ground" by Within Temptation). It was from Strify, and said, "Too bad you guys left so early. A lot of people were trying to find you."<br>I made a mental note to reply to the text when I woke up and turned up the volume on the phone so the alarm would wake me at 8. Then I crawled back into bed and fell asleep to "He's All That" by Cascada.


	6. Pooltime

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**6****-Pooltime**

I jumped as "Are We the Waiting" blared from my phone.  
>"Hello," I asked, slowly realizing that the prison who answered would be Yu as my mind caught up to my actions.<br>"Hello Saya. It's Yu," he replied, "do you guys want to go down to the pool today?"  
>I glanced at the clock. 7:18.<br>"When?" I asked with a yawn.  
>"How about at 10 or so?" he asked.<br>"If we can wake up Ai. That could take while," I told him.  
>"I tried calling her but she didn't answer," he told me, do you know why?"<br>"She's asleep and it's practically impossible to wake her up. I think her phone is on vibrate too," I replied.  
>"Ok. See you later," Yu said.<br>"'Bye," I replied.  
>I hung up and looked up to see Bachiko, Cho, and Fuji awake and watching me. Ai, as expected, was still sleeping like a dead person.<br>"Who was that?" Cho asked.  
>"Yu," I told them, "They wanted us to go down to the pool with them at about 10."<br>"Sweet!" Cho yelled. She loved being in water.  
>Bachiko thought for a minute. "Can I push someone in?" she asked.<br>I shrugged. "If you want to," I replied.  
>"Ok!" she chirped. Fuji sighed.<br>"I guess if I say no I'm still outnumbered?" she asked. We nodded. She sighed, but smiled. "Fine."  
>Once we had all agreed, we tried to wake Ai. It took us 3 pairs of socks, 2 cold sodas, a towel, and half an hour. She finally sat up and glared at the four of us.<br>"What time is it?" she growled. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance started to play from my phone.  
>"8 o'clock," I said, going to shut off the alarm, "We woke you up cuz Yu called and said the guys want to meet us down at the pool at about 10."<br>"That's in two hours!" Ai complained, flopping back down and closing her eyes. Fuji pushed at her until she sat up again.  
>"We still have to eat and get ready." Bachiko said.<br>Ai sighed and got up. Looking at her cell phone, she saw that she'd missed Yu's earlier call. She blinked. "Who'd he call?" she asked, really asking who'd picked up.  
>"Me," I replied. She shrugged and got up.<br>At 9:30 we were pretty much ready to go. We'd taken an hour to eat just about anything we could get our hands on. Now we were in swimsuits and t-shirts and just waiting around the room.  
>I had on a two-piece black swimsuit with red vine-like designs that showed off my tattoos. With it I was wearing a loose pair of black shorts, on top of it I was wearing a loose white t-shirt with the Wolf's Rain character Hige ironed on. I'd made shirts with all the main characters (Hige, Tsume, Toboe, Cheza, Blue, and Kiba) on them about 3 12 years ago.  
>Cho was wearing a dark blue two-piece swimsuit with small black butterflies on it. She also wore black shorts and my Toboe t-shirt.<br>Ai's swimsuit was a plain black two-piece. Her shorts were black with a bight pink skull on one side. Her t-shirt was the same black-and-pink one she'd worn at yesterday's concert.  
>Bachiko was wearing a bright orange one-piece with bright red and white stripes. She was also wearing bright red shorts and a hot pink t-shirt.<br>Fuji had on a black one-piece with neon green designs. She was wearing a pair of neon green shorts like mine...Well, they actually were mine. She was also in a light blue oversized t-shirt.  
>"We still have half an hour," Ai commented, "Why did I have to get up at 8?"<br>"We expected it to take longer to wake you up," I replied.  
>She sighed and fell back onto the bed. Not knowing what else to do, I put in the second disc of Ouran High School Host Club and watched my favorite episode.<br>When "Big Brother Is A Prince!" ended, we turned off the TV and started down to the pool.

"Hey, Ai! Saya! Fuji! Bachiko! Cho!" called a voice from behind us as we reached the door to the empty pool room. We turned to see the five guys hurrying towards us and we waited for them.  
>They caught up to us and we all walked into the room. It was cool inside and the clear blue water lapped at the edges of the pool. We left our stuff on some of the chairs and climbed into the water (ok, Cho and I jumped in and Bachiko pushed Romeo and Kiro in).<br>I came up and pushed my heavy black hair out of my face. I'd left it down for once, so now that it was wet it would be harder to control. Before I had gotten the last few strands out of the way, I got a fateful of cool water.  
>Shaking my head and wiping at my face, I tried to see through a chlorine-induced haze. I saw Yu just in time to dodge another wave from him. Then he turned to splash Ai, and a water fight between Mayonaka Soñodora and Cinema Bizarre ensued.<br>We gave up about 45 minutes later since no one seemed to be winning. I was trying to get my hair to behave again when I felt a gentle hand helping me. Looking up, I saw Strify.  
>"Thanks," I said.<br>"No problem," he replied, "by the way, I like your tattoos."  
>"Thanks...again. Yours are pretty kill too," I replied. I had winged hearts on my shoulders, eagle wings on my back, the quote "Why walk a line when you could fly?" between the wings, and the first measure of "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum around my ankle.<br>We finally cleared up the last of the black strands and went to sit on the steps and talk.  
>"Do you know any other German songs?" he asked curiously.<br>"Yeah," I replied, "I know a few more folk songs and a few songs by Tokio Hotel and LaFee." I swept a lock of my hair out of my face when it fell as it started to dry.  
>"Can you actually speak German?" he asked.<br>I nodded. "Spanish, German, French, Latin, Japanese, Italian, and Polish," I told him, "though it's mostly just bits and pieces from classes and anything I've watched, read, or found."  
>Strify blinked. "That's a lot," he commented. I shrugged.<br>"I guess. But it's not too hard to pick up."  
>The ten of us spent most of the day in the pool. We got into another water fight and played several rounds of chicken. By the time we left, everyone had been pushed in at least once.<p>

A knock on the door of our hotel room woke me the next morning...afternoon, actually.  
>"Do you think they're awake?" I heard Romeo ask out in the hall.<br>"Maybe, or they could've ended up like Shin," Yu commented. I vaguely wondered what had happened to Shin.  
>The door handle rattled, then there was the faint sound of a key card sliding through the dock and the door opened. WTF? I thought.<br>"Damn, they really do have chlorine hangovers," Kiro's voice said.  
>"Chlorine hangovers?" Strify's voice asked, "Seriously?"<br>"Yeah, look. It's obvious, but I don't smell any vodka," Kiro told him.  
>"Chlorine is as bad as alcohol?" Strify asked, obviously still confused.<br>"Well, let's look at their eyes and see how red and dilated they are," Kiro suggested, sounding as if he was approaching Cho.  
>"No, it was a question dammit!" Strify shouted.<br>"Well, do you know if it is?" Kiro asked.  
>"No," Strify replied.<br>"Then I'll leave 'em alone," Kiro said.  
>"No, let's talk about it now," Strify urged. My mind sleepily registered the fact that strify had started his last three sentences with "no."<br>"Well, they could've drunk some of the water by accident when we caught them in the water fights, and it could've affected them like alcohol," Kiro hypothesized.  
>"How could we test it though? How would we even know if it does?" Strify asked. He was starting to sound like my old science teachers.<br>"Well, they could drink the chlorine water and then drink vodka, or any other alcoholic drink," Kiro suggested.  
>"Ok, but why would they have to drink it? Why not us?" Strify asked.<br>"I don't want to drink it!" Kiro retorted.  
>Neither do I, smartass, I thought.<br>"Do you want Cho to drink chlorine?" Strify asked.  
>"No," Kiro said, then paused. "Unless she's willing."<br>"Your mind is useless in these pathetic theories of chlorine hangovers," Strify stated. I would have laughed, but I was still in the time-consuming process of waking up. During the school year, it had taken about an hour every morning.  
>"Hey, Einstein and Sherlock, can we come in now?" called Yu's annoyed voice from the doorway.<br>"Yeah," Kiro called.  
>I gave up on trying to win any more sleep and opened my eyes enough to aim my little Strify at the blurry figures and throw him. "You guys are really loud," I complained as he hit the real Strify in the face.<br>Strify caught panda-Stify and started playing with him, making him dance in the air by holding his little paws. I sighed mentally.  
>"Can I have the panda back now?" I asked.<br>"Of course not," Strify replied immediately, absorbed in his entertainment.  
>"Dammit, give me Strify!" I shouted, losing my temper since I really wanted more sleep.<br>Strify looked up and grinned, looking interested. "Ok," he said, running over and jumping on the bed, knocking Ai off.  
>I took the panda and stared at him. My hazel eyes searched his blue eyes for a minute before I made the connection between my comment and and his jump onto the bed. "Oh!" I said.<br>"Well, thanks for that," Ai grumbled from the floor. Yu went to help her up, but Romeo pushed past him and offered his hand first.  
>"Uh, not thanks," Ai said, standing on her own. I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper under the covers and a little closer to Strify (AKA "new source of warmth").<br>"Ugh! You let them in?" Bachiko yawned as she became aware of the 4 extra people in the room.  
>"No, they let themselves in," Fuji told her.<br>"Gay ass stalker faggots!" Bachiko yelled.  
>"She has a point," Cho said, "How did you get our room key?"<br>My eyes popped open as I realized just how weird it was that they had walked right in. How did they get the key? I looked up at Strify with questioning eyes, but he just smiled back at me, snickering like Kiro and Romeo now were, and didn't reply.  
>"Dare I ask what happened?" I questioned.<br>"Well..." Strify began.  
>"Let's just say the counter guy was gay, and Yu knows how to flirt," Romeo said.<br>Everyone but Yu burst out laughing.  
>"I had fun, and now thanks to me and my...good looks, we can come into your room whenever we want," he said.<br>"Yeah, like that isn't weird," Ai said sarcastically.  
>"I still say they're stalker faggots," Bachiko bitched.<br>"I agree, but will you quit saying that?" I grumbled.  
>"Stalker," Bachiko started.<br>"Don't do it," Ai warned.  
>"Faggots!" she yelled.<br>"Bachiko!" Cho yelled, then jumped up, ran into the bathroom, and slammed the door. There was silence for a minute.  
>"I told you not to say it," I finally said to Bachiko.<br>Kiro walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Cho, are you ok?" he asked.  
>Cho didn't answer, so Ai got up and joined Kiro by the door. "Cho, can I come in?" she asked. There was still no answer, so Ai promised she'd meet up with us later and went in.<br>The three of us made the guys wait out in the hall, taking turns guarding the door so the guys didn't try to come back in if they got bored. We got dressed as low murmurs droned on from the bathroom.  
>"Did Kiro get you pregnant already?" we heard Ai gasp suddenly. We paused and stared at each other.<br>"No!" Cho's voice yelled back. We went back to getting dressed.  
>I wore a black tank top under Ai's bright yellow t-shirt and black skinny-jeans. As usual, I wore my high-tops and put my hair up. Feeling lazy today, I only put on foundation and black.<br>Bachiko wore wore a blue and neon green zebra-patterned t-shirt and one of Fuji's jackets. She also wore a pair of neon green skinny-jeans I think actually belonged to Cho. She put on foundation, lime green eyeshadow, and blue eyeliner.  
>Fuji was wearing a white t-shirt and a black jacket with green designs on it. Her jeans were light blue and she was wearing sneakers. She left her long hair down and put on green eyeliner.<br>Ai came out of the bathroom before we finished and asked us to wait for her. We joined the guys out in the hall once she was dressed in a blue t-shirt, her black half-jacket, black skinny-jeans, and her high-tops. She pulled her hair up but didn't put dye in.  
>"Is Cho ok?" Strify asked when we left the room.<br>"She'll be fine. She just needs to rest," Ai replied.  
>We decided to go to the mall, since Strify was in one of his shopaholic moods. We spent almost 5 hours there, trying on sunglasses and clothes that didn't match, eating, and buying some of the things we really liked. Ai, Strify, and I bought several volumes of manga, much to Yu's delight and Bachiko's disgust.<br>We tried calling Cho a few times, but she didn't answer. Then we left the mall and went back to the hotel. On the way there we stopped at Burger King and picked up enough food for 15 people.  
>At the hotel, we stopped at our room first. Kiro and I went in and saw that Cho was asleep on one of the beds. Kiro went to sit by her and I went to find Monty Python and Angel season 1. Then I went to the guys' room, leaving Kiro behind with Cho.<br>We spread the food on the table in the suite's main room and put in Monty Python.  
>Cho and Kiro entered the room during the killer bunny scene. There was still some food spread around the room. Yu and Ai were laying on the floor together. Bachiko has gotten and armchair to herself. Shin and Romeo were laying on their stomach's on their stomachs on one of the beds. Fuji was sitting on the floor, leaning back against Bachiko's chair. Strify and I were sitting on the couch together. When Cho and Kiro came in, they sat on the other bed.<br>When Monty Python ended, we threw away papers and other crap from the food we'd finished (all of it). Then we put in the first disc of Angel. We watched every episode on the first 2 discs without hesitation, cheering on Angel, rolling our eyes at Cordelia, and laughing at Doyle. Then disc 2 ended and Bachiko, Fuji, Ai, Cho, and I hesitated to put in disc 3.  
>"What's wrong?" Romeo asked.<br>"Doyle dies in the next episode," Fuji answered slowly. The guys stared at us.  
>"Really?" Strify asked finally. We nodded.<br>There was another pause where nobody moved, then I finally got up to put in the next disc and start the dreaded episode, "Hero."  
>There was still times during the episode where we laughed, like when Doyle said, "If it's a fight they want...can't somebody else give it to them?"<br>When Doyle died, most of us cried. Even I cried, though usually sad movies, shows, or books couldn't get a tear out of me. The episode ended and to try to get our minds off Doyle's death (as much as we could), we started the next episode.  
>I didn't really watch, even though it was the episode where Wesley made his entrance into the series. I fell asleep about halfway through the episode, curled up against the arm of the couch.<p> 


	7. New

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**7****-New**

"Take Me Away" blared from my phone and woke me the next morning. I snatched it off the table answered before it could wake anyone else up.  
>"Hello" I whispered.<br>"Hey Saya. Ai told me you five were looking for a house, and I think I've found a great one for you. When do you want to see it?" DJ Rob asked.  
>"Later today, if we could," I said quietly, excitement welling up inside me.<br>"Ok," he replied, "How 'bout you guys meet me at Cherry Tree at 3?"  
>I checked the time on my phone. It was only 7:46. "Ok, we'll see you there," I told him. Then we hung up.<br>"Who was that?" asked Strify's quiet voice in my ear. I jumped.  
>"DJ Rob," I whispered back. I wondered how he'd ended up behind me with his arm wrapped around my waist. Shrugging it off, I got up, stretched, and went to find something to eat. Much to my surprise, I found a box of s'mores poptarts. I grabbed a pack, went back to the couch, and turned on Monty Python again to watch until the others woke up.<br>When the movie ended, everyone but Ai was awake. We piled up our stuff to take with us when we left, then tried to wake her. It took only 10 minutes this morning, then we went back to our room to change. On the way, I told them about the house DJ Rob found.  
>Today, I put on a black t-shirt and of Bachiko's with different colored peace signs all over it. I also put on her orange skinny-jeans. I left my hair down but put in red, blue, yellow, and purple hair extensions. Ai put on lime green, bright blue, and hot pink eyeshadow with purple eyeliner and purple lip gloss.<br>Ai wore a bright green t-shirt and the jacket Bachiko had worn yesterday. She wore purple skinny-jeans, also Bachiko's, and high-tops. She left her hair down too and put in purple dye. Her eyeshadow was purple fading to lime green and her eyeliner was purple too. She mixed the purple lip gloss she wore with a little white eyeshadow to lighten it.  
>Fuji was wearing dark blue jeans, a grey Ravenclaw jacket (mine), and a plain black t-shirt. She put her sneakers on again and left her hair down, which Bachiko and Ai saw as an opportunity to add blue and black hair extensions. Ai also put silver eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and clear lip gloss on her.<br>Bachiko changed into dark grey skinny-jeans and a white top with 3/4-length sleeves and a green tanktop under it. She left her hair down, brushed and straightened, and put in green-and-black striped extensions. Ai refused to let her put on her own makeup and gave Bachiko eyeshadow in 2 shades of green and black eyeliner.  
>Cho was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and Ai's 12 jacket. She put on blue skinny-jeans and blue high-tops. Ai gave her light blue and teal eyeshadow and skiver eyeliner. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and put her sunglasses on top of her head, as usual.  
>We didn't leave our room until 2:40, when we went to meet DJ Rob. He met us out front and told us he'd lead us to the house. As I reached my Camry, we heard the door to the studio open. Looking back, I saw Cinema Bizarre leaving the building.<br>"Hey!" Kiro called to us, "Mind if we go with you to see the house?"  
>DJ Rob, Cho, Ai, Bachiko, and Fuji stared from them to me. I stared at Strify, who grinned sheepishly. Yep, he'd told them.<br>"Not really," Ai said finally.  
>They came over to us and climbed into the cars with us. Kiro rode with Cho, Yu rode with Ai, Shin rode with Fuji, and Strify and Romeo rode with me, complaining about the size of my Camry until I turned up the music to drown them out. Bachiko refused to let any of them so much as touch her truck.<br>When we pulled up in front of a huge house with light blue siding, our jaws dropped. It was close to the beach (though still about a mile away) and had a big yard. Ai was smiling when she climbed out of her truck, but when she saw the house her chin joined ours on the ground.  
>A real estate agent met us at the front door and unlocked it. We walked into the house, staring around the big rooms with their tall ceilings and the sweeping staircases. There were 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge kitchen, 2 big pantries, at least 2 living rooms, and several more rooms with no obvious use.<br>"Damn. I love this house!" Strify announced as he peeked into one of the bedrooms.  
>"Me too," I agreed, checking out one of the bathrooms.<br>"Are you guys gonna get it?" Kiro asked.  
>"Hell yeah!" Fuji replied.<br>"We need to get furniture though," Cho remarked.  
>"Big beds?" Yu asked, smirking.<br>"Yes, but we're not sharing," I told him. He looked disappointed, though I'm pretty sure it was an act.  
>We bought the house that very day but decided not to move in until we had at least some furniture. We went back to the hotel, said goodbye to Cinema Bizarre, and went to watch Angel in our room. We decided to watch season five, "the 'Spike' season" as I called it, since we'd seen all the episodes with Doyle in them the night before.<br>We watched Angel until 6:30 with no interruptions. Then Ai suddenly stood up and walked over to her suitcase, pulling out a pile of clothes.  
>"Where are you going?" Cho asked once we'd paused Angel.<br>"Yu asked me out," she explained, smiling.  
>"Good for you," I said, reaching for the remote.<br>"Have fun with your sex toy," Bachiko told her, getting hit by a shoe moments later.  
>When Ai came out of the bathroom, dressed for her date, it was 6:53. She had put on a black halter top with a black-and-hot pink nautical star on the front with a big silver razor blade by it. She also wore black skinny-jeans and high-tops. Her hair had been pulled up and she'd put in black dye. She had changed her makeup to black fading to hot pink eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and clear lip gloss.<br>"Nice," I commented, taking my eyes off the screen long enough to give my opinion. She smiled and just then there was a knock on the door. She opened it and I saw Yu on the other side, holding a bright blue rose. They soon left and we went back to watching Angel.  
>It was almost 8 o'clock when there was another knock on the door.<br>"I'll get it," Fuji sighed. She went to the door and opened it. Through the opening I could see Kiro and Shin.  
>"Do you guys want to play Truth or Dare?" I heard Romeo ask.<br>Fuji looked over her shoulder at us. I shrugged, meaning it was okay with me. Cho nodded energetically. Bachiko thought for a minute.  
>"Ok, but I get to make them suffer," she said finally.<br>I laughed as I searched for the remote and paused Angel once I'd found it. Strify, Shin, Kiro, and Romeo came in and sat on the couches. We joined them and Kiro started the game.  
>"Romeo, truth or dare?" he asked.<br>"Dare," Romeo replied with a smirk.  
>Kiro got an evil grin on his face. "I dare you to steal a box of poptarts and hide them without getting attacked," he said.<br>Romeo's face went blank as we all turned to him. Most of us were glaring. "What else?" he asked.  
>"Option 2 is to sit on Shin's lap for an hour, and option 3 is to sing 'Your Body Is a Wonderland.' Your penalty is to go find some fangirl and kiss her," Kiro told him.<br>"Uh...If someone can turn on the music, I'll sing. You didn't say it had to be a cappella," Romeo added as Kiro opened his mouth.  
>Kiro shut his mouth and I went to find my speakers. When I found them, I hooked up my iPod and played the song. Romeo sang along with John Mayer's voice, hesitantly at first but soon growing in volume. He looked extremely proud of himself as he turned to Strify.<br>"Truth or Dare?" he asked.  
>"Dare," Strify replied challengingly.<br>"Ok," Romeo said, "I dare you to 1) dance to 'Come On Get Higher' with one of the girls, 2) drink a 'cocktail' of water, apple juice, and milk, or 3) prank call DJ Rob on Bachiko's phone. Your penalty is to let us draw whatever we want on your face, and you can't wash it off until Saturday.  
>Strify stared at him. "If you want it to be a tough choice, you should think of some better dares," he told Romeo, holding his hand out to Fuji. She made a face but stood up as I played "Come On Get Higher."<br>Fuji danced the way the five of us had for more than three years. Strify started out with more of a dirty dancing style, but it became more like Fuji's when he saw what she was doing. Bachiko, Cho, and I all wanted to join in, but we resisted the urge. When the song ended, they sat down on opposite sides of our circle.  
>"Saya, truth or dare?" he asked. I made a face as I weighed my options. "Truth," I said finally. Strify looked a little disappointed and had to think for a minute. Then a smile suddenly spread across his face and He leaned towards me.<br>"Do you like me?" he asked, his breath warm and sweet on my face. For a second, I wondered what he'd eaten last.  
>"Sometimes," I replied calmly, leaning back.<br>"How much?" he asked.  
>"One turn, one question," I said teasingly. He leaned back, looking disappointed again.<br>"Truth or dare, Cho?" I asked.  
>"Dare," she answered. I smirked, thinking.<br>"I dare you to sing 'Fullness Found', kiss Kiro, or go skinny-dipping in the pool, since you seem to like that kind of thing."  
>Cho's face went bright red. "Shut up! You guys tricked me!" she retorted.<br>The boys stared, their expressions somewhere between perverted interest and disgusted shock. Cho glared at me again before grabbing Kiro and pulling him into a kiss.  
>It didn't take long for the kiss to progress into a heated make out session, at which point the rest of us turned away.<br>"I think I'm going to be sick," Bachiko commented. I thought she looked a little green.  
>The lip lock dragged on. Finally our patience ran out and Strify and Romeo were coerced into separating them. Despite the rosy color of their faces, they seemed pleased as Cho leaned back against Kiro's chest.<br>Their display effectively ended the game, but the guys didn't seem interested in leaving just yet. Instead, Strify produced a copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas from a plastic shopping bag.  
>I laughed and took it from him, popping it into the DVD player. By the time I turned back around, everyone had rearranged themselves and my only options were to sit on the floor or next to Strify. I chose the latter. Snuggled up against him, I dozed off long before the movie ended.<p>

The next week was spent in a state of constant activity. The girls and I stocked up on furniture, moving it into the new house. When the guys weren't busy recording, they helped us. By Saturday, we were finished and ready to move into the place.  
>Cho and I check us out of the hotel and drove back to the house, where Bachiko, Fuji, and Ai were waiting for us. Apparently they weren't the only ones, seeing as it was Kiro who met us on the wide front porch.<br>"Hey," he greeted, his mouth curling into something between a smile and a smirk. Cho returned his greeting physically, wrapping herself up into his arms as she kissed him. I, however, settled for a simple "hola" as I passed, balancing a box of manga against my hip.  
>"Hey Saya, look what the stalker faggots got us!" Bachiko squealed upon seeing me. Apprehension filled me at the excitement in her tone.<br>It was eased, however, as a Yorkie puppy prances into the room, tripping over it's disproportionate feet. Ai and Strify followed, both smiling brightly.  
>"What, no pug named Boy George?" I teased Strify.<br>He crinkled his nose. "I wish," he responded.  
>"Her name's Yuki," Ai chirped, beaming. I looked quizzically at the dog.<br>"But...she's grey," I pointed out.  
>Ai poured. "Silver!" she corrected, "But I didn't like Gina."<br>I rolled my eyes, but let it go. Yuki ambled up to me, panting happily. Smiling, I crouched to scratch her behind the ears.  
>Our family was growing again.<p> 


	8. Last Day

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**8****-Last Day**

A week later, we got the bad news-it was time for Cinema Bizarre to return to Berlin. I was almost surprised when they seemed almost as disappointed as we were. Even Bachiko looked as if she might miss them. Personally, I had the nauseating sensation that I was about to lose something important.  
>Their last day crept up on us way too quickly, but we were determined to make the most of it. We got up early for once, if 10 o'clock can be considered early. Dressed in colorful spandex, the five of us met the boys at the hotel to take advantage of the pool for the last time.<br>Over her black-and-neon pink bikini, Ai wore a bright purple sarong and an oversized, black, Metallica t-shirt. Her hair had been manipulated into anime-style buns with blue dye frosting the ends. Unable to go even a day without makeup, she sported blue waterproof mascara.  
>Cho wore a sky blue bikini featuring small black and white butterflies. It was hidden from view by a plain black jacket and a pair of denim shorts. Her long, dirty blonde hair hung loose, but she wore a black scrunchie around one wrist.<br>Bachiko wore a neon orange one-piece and a pair of black swim trunks. Matching bright orange flip-flops completed the look. She also wore her hair down and had applied a thin line of black eyeliner.  
>Fuji wore a black one-piece with neon green leopard spots. It hugged her body perfectly under khaki shorts and a loose The Used t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a loose but effective ponytail.<br>I shifted uncomfortably in the maroon bikini Ai had talked me into wearing. Normally, I preferred to wear more the mere scraps of cloth. Luckily I was able to cover it for now, using a black Styx t-shirt and black swim trunks. I tied my hair back in favor of not having to deal with tangles as I swam.  
>Cinema Bizarre met us in the lobby, and our groups merged as we headed to the pool. I found myself between Bachiko and Strify, mediating an argument concerning the merits of Oreos and gummy bears. Just as Bachiko was pointing out that Oreos don't have heads, we reached the pool and Romeo let us in. I pushed past the two, leaving them to their discussion.<br>Cho hit the water first, closely followed by Fuji and Yu. I hesitated on the edge, my arms crossed over my still-covered torso.  
>"If you don't hurry, I'll push you in," a voice murmured in my ear. I turned to glare at Strify, who smirked.<br>"If you do, you'll have to learn to sleep with one eye open," I threatened in return.  
>He backed away, holding up his hands in surrender. Blowing past him, I returned to the chair I'd left my towel on and pulled my shirt over my head, telling myself it would only be as bad as I made it out to be.<br>When I turned around, both Strify and Kiro were staring at me. In the background, Ai smirked triumphantly.  
>"What?" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest again. I hurried over to the water and jumped in, hoping the cool liquid would reduce the heat that had flared up in my cheeks.<br>"Told ya they'd like it," Ai told me smugly as she swam over to me.  
>"No, you told me you'd steal everything else I could possibly wear if I didn't put it on," I reminded her grumpily.<br>She rolled her eyes. "Same thing. Just shut up and enjoy the attention."  
>I scowled at her. "I don't like my looks getting attention," I snapped.<br>She just giggled and swam away. Before I could call after her, I felt the water move again as someone swam up behind me. I spun around to find Romeo. The look he was giving me was full of confusion.  
>"You don't like your looks getting attention?". He echoed, his tone mirroring his expression.<br>The scowl returned to my face as I shook my head. "It's shallow," I explained. I didn't think he needed to know that I also hated my body and how much trouble it was to keep it in good shape.  
>"But it's also the first thing anyone's going to see," Romeo pointed out.<br>I shrugged. "That's why Ai's in charge of looks," I admitted. I tucked my hair behind my ear self-consciously.  
>He laughed. I crinkled my nose; the whole conversation irked me a bit. Appearances were too easy to manipulate and therefore not worth conversation, in my opinion.<br>"Who wants pizza?" Cho called after a while. There was a chorus of affirmatives, followed by splashing as we jumped out of the pool and joined her by our chairs.  
>"Are we ordering or going out?" Ai asked, wrapping the white hotel towel around her waist.<br>"Let's go out," Shin suggested, ruffling his hair with another towel. The rest of the group agreed, and once we were as dry as we could get, we piled into Cho's truck and the guys' rental car, heading to the nearest Pizza Hut.  
>At the table, I found myself squeezed between Strify and Bachiko. They were arguing again, this time about whether or not to get onions on the pizza. Bachiko was in favor of it; Strify was not.<br>"It'll overpower the rest of the flavors," Strify protested, frowning.  
>"It will not!" Bachiko retorted, her blue eyes wide as she tried to convince her adversary, "It will compliment them nicely!"<br>"Just shut up and get two pizzas," I groaned, rubbing my temples and resting my chin on the table.  
>My comment shut them up, much to my surprise and relief. Then I felt a large, warm hand on my back and soft exhales on the shell of my ear.<br>"Gomen ne, Saya-chan," Strify said softly.  
>I batted him away and rubbed my ear. "Quit doing that!" I poured, trying to mutate a glare and a look of disgust into one expression.<br>He just smirked, trying not to laugh outright.  
>In return, I ignored him for the rest of the meal. It's sort of a specialty of mine, being able to completely ignore all or part of my surroundings. Strify was looking very temperamental by the time we left the restaurant.<br>Instead of heading back to the hotel and the pool, we then ended up back at the house. Yuki met us with a barrage of pitiful whimpers, acting as if she'd been alone for days. Strify picked her up and babies her as if he hadn't seen her in years.  
>Rolling my eyes, I left the scene to change. I re-emerged wearing plain denim skinny-jeans and a hot pink "OTAKU" t-shirt. My feet were bare, showing off my currently ultraviolet toenails. My hair was down, still damp, and I still hadn't bothered to put any makeup on. My iPod headphones dangled around my neck, playing "I Could Get Used to This" by The Veronicas softly.<br>Everyone else had moved to the kitchen. Cans of beer and plastic cups filled with water littered the countertop. I grabbed a cup and an empty stool, yawning as I sat down.  
>"Tired already?" Strify asked. He looked both surprised and amused.<br>I waved him off. "Chlorine always does this to me," I explained.  
>"She'll have a Chlorine hangover in the morning," Kiro muttered to Strify from his other side. I rolled my eyes.<br>"Maybe you should take a nap," Fuji suggested, her brow furrowed, "We have a concert tonight, remember?"  
>My forehead hit the counter. "Of course," I grumbled against the off-white surface.<br>"C'mon," Strify Swidden, trying to make his tone soothing. He tugged on my arm and I got up, taking my cup with me.  
>I led the way to my room, setting my water on my bookcase before flopping onto my bed and curling up on my side. Strify sat behind me, carding through my long hair with his fingers. I let my eyes close, pulling Pepto and my Grimmjow plush to my chest.<br>"So, you're an otaku?" Strify asked softly, sounding honestly curious.  
>"Totally," I mumbled back, my mouth pressed against sky blue felt hair.<br>"Ever read Nana?" he asked. I nodded, suppressing another yawn.  
>He fell silent, but his fingers never stopped. As I drifted off, I wondered what he was thinking.<p> 


	9. It's Our Turn Now

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**9****-It's Our Turn Now**

"Hey bitches, wake the fuck up!"  
>Cho's profanity-laced yelling woke me from my nap, but I didn't open my eyes immediately. I was warm, though I could feel that my shirt had ridden up, exposing my stomach. My legs were tangling with something, and my head was pillowed by something that rose and fell gently. An arm was wrapped tightly around my waist.<br>Realizing this, I forced my eyes open. My pillow was Strify's chest, and it was his legs that mine were tangled with. I raised my head to look at his face.  
>He was still asleep; I could see his eyes moving restlessly beneath their lids. He shored softly, looking content and peaceful. My breath caught in my throat for a moment, and I didn't want to move.<br>Unfortunately, Cho had other plans.  
>One of my pillows flew past me, hitting the other singer square in the face. He woke with a start, his bright blue eyes flying open wide. He groaned, blinking furiously. After a moment, his eyes found me.<br>"Saya?" he murmured sleepily, his arm tightening around me. His expression was adorably confused.  
>I forced a shaky smile onto my features, trying to control the pounding of my heart. "Naptime's over," I joked feebly.<br>He groaned again and fell back.

Fifteen minutes later, I found myself crammed into Ai's truck with the other girls. They were talking excitedly about our first headline concert. I, on the other hand, was trying to block out everything, blasting "Outta Here" by Esmée Denters from my iPod. The sentiment seemed to fit my scattered thoughts, even if the situation wasn't the same.  
>By the time we arrived at the venue, my song had changed to "I Must Be Emo" by Hollywood Undead. I was giggling to myself, earning wary stares from the others.<br>"Are you okay?" Bachiko asked curiously, poking me in the shoulder. I nodded, unable to speak through the onslaught of another giggling fit.  
>Fuji and Ai rolled their eyes at each other, but didn't comment. They led the way through the back door of the building. I trailed, calming down as the song changed to "If You Run" by You Me At Six.<br>Cinema Bizarre was waiting for us in the room we were supposed to warm up in. Seeing them sitting there, playing with their instruments, brought of a sense of deja vu. This time, however, they would be opening for us. That thought, coupled with the giddiness brought on by "I Must Be Emo," brought a smile to my face-finally.  
>Bachiko and I went through our usual warm-ups with Strify after we'd all changed. The guys were all wearing their outfits from the "I Came 2 Party" video. Ai had coordinated all of Mayonaka Soñodora's outfits to fit a theme-vampires. Yet another bloodsucker movie was coming out in a few weeks. Due to the movie's hype, DJ Rob thought the theme might draw a crowd.<br>Ai had chosen a red corset and a short, black skirt for herself. Black platform boots went up over her knees, leaving a few inches of skin showing between the tops and the hem of her tight skirt. She wore black terrycloth wristbands on both wrists and thick black eyeliner. She left her hair down, streaked with black and red. With artificial fangs in, she really looked the part of a seductive vampiress.  
>Bachiko looked surprisingly grown-up in the outfit Ai had forced her into. She wore black slacks, a purple silk blouse, and a black blazer. Dangling bat earrings were visible under the wild strands of hair that escaped her high-set ponytail. Dark red lipstick emphasized her full lips and black eyeshadow gave her eyes a sultry look. High-heeled black boots added a couple inches to her height.<br>Cho's outfit showed even more skin than Ai's. She wore a tight-fit, short, black tube dress and black fishnet stockings. Ankle-high boots with short, boxy heels encased her feet. Her long hair was down, streaked with navy blue. She wore bright red lipstick and dark blue eyeliner. On both hands she wore black bracelets and rings connected by thin silver chains. She also wore false fangs and blue shark mouth contacts.  
>Though Fuji would be behind the drums, her outfit was as elaborate as anyone else's. Grey footless tights clung to her legs, decorated with solid black bats. Over them she wore black shorts, and she wore a black tanktop with copper beads sewn around the collar. Somehow, Ai had convinced her to put her hair into Hunter Green-streaked pigtails. Black lipstick and eyeshadow contrasted with her pale face, and false fangs finished the look.<br>My outfit consisted of black leather pants with a tight-fitting black tanktop and a red corset. I wore knee-high black books with rubber heels. My hair was arranged into tiny pigtails in the front and left down in the back, like Misa Amane's hair. I wore little makeup-only black eyeliner, styled like cat eyes, and dark pink lipstick, almost red. Thin black bands encircled most of my fingers. Like Bachiko, I couldn't wear the fake fangs. The caps would interfere with our ability to sing.  
>Lounging around with the boys was nostalgia-inducing, but it was also nerve-wracking for me. This wasn't the first time we'd been on stage, of course, but it was the first time that people would be showing up for us. I wondered briefly how large the crowd would be.<br>"Hey, you okay?" asked Shin from my right. He was sitting on one of the couches, elbow propped on his knee, drumsticks held loosely in one hand. His brow was furrowed in concern. "You look a little green," he explained to me.  
>I attempted to smile. "I'm fine," I told him, trying to force myself to relax.<br>Ai noticed my tension and called me over. "What's up?" she asked as I reached her,  
>I shrugged. "Just nervous," I explained, "This time it's about us."<br>An excited grin broke out across her face, but there were nervous undertones to it. "Well, let's do the birdy dance! The guys are going on soon," she suggested, her eyes sparkling.  
>I laughed, flailing my arms and legs with her. Across the room, Bachiko joined us. Cho and Fuji went about their business as usual, but they guys gave us weird looks. The philosophy behind the birdy dance was that it would give you courage, because you knew you could not possibly look stupider doing anything else.<br>The guys left the room soon after Ai and I collapsed in a fit of giggles. On the TV in the room, we watched them appear on stage to a roar of applause. A smile stole across my face as I watched them setting up to play "Lovesongs (They Kill Me)."  
>They played through their biggest hits while we watched, fidgeting with excitement and nervousness. As "ToyZ" came to an end, we hurried to take over. My wild emotions were under control now.<br>"Good luck," each of the guys told us as they passed. Yu stooped to kiss Ai's forehead as he made his way past her. The grin it produced stayed plastered onto her face as we took the stage.  
>We started with the first song I'd ever written, "Today." The tune flowed smoothly, fast and varied. After that we moved into our most successful song, "Voices In My Head." Our third song was a cover of Michelle Branch's hit "Breathe." We played through "Never There," "Wild Ride," "Don't Wanna Be Romeo and Juliet," "Not Pretty In Pink," "Shattered Mirror," and finished with our very first song together, "Midnight Dreamers."<br>We kept the energy going strong, bouncing around the stage like Styx had in the first concert I'd ever been to.  
>The applause was thunderous as we left the stage. Behind the curtains, we grinned at each other in the darkness. It wasn't long before DJ Rob gave us the thumbs up to go play our encore, "Summer Nights."<p>

By the time we were done with the signing later, our eyelids were drooping. Unfortunately, we still had one more stop before we could go home and sleep-the airport.  
>Yu and Shin ended up riding with me, Bachiko, and Ai in Ai's truck. Cho and Fuji took their places in the guys' rental. As we drove, Bachiko dozed off, her head resting on Shin's shoulder. He was smiling fondly down at her. I smirked.<br>We reached the airport too soon for my liking. Standing on the curb in front of the automatic doors, we said our goodbyes.  
>"So how's the trip going to work?" Cho asked, her light tone contrasting the sadness in her eyes.<br>"Two parts," Strify answered, "We'll fly from here to New York, then catch a connecting flight to Berlin."  
>"How much time to you have to get to the gate?" Ai asked, nodding her head towards the doors as they slid open to admit a middle-aged couple.<br>"Just enough to get through security," Shin answered softly, "We'd better go."  
>We all said goodbye again. Yu kissed Ai as Kiro hugged Cho. Strify squeezed my hand lightly and kissed my forehead before turning his back. Romeo waved, then led the way into the building.<br>Shin was last to go.  
>"We'll be stalking you again before you know it," he told Bachiko with a feeble grin, ruffling her hair.<br>"You'd better," she retorted weakly, "I need victims."  
>We watched them until they disappeared, then turned and climbed back into the truck. I watched the airport fade into the distance as Ai drove, the tugging sensation in my chest only intensified by Halcali's "Long Kiss Good Bye" playing softly in my ears.<p> 


	10. Can't Sleep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**10****-Can't Sleeep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick**

**PART ONE-Mayonaka Soñodora**  
>"It's been a week," Ai muttered, her voice monotone. She was slumped on the couch, her head resting on the back as she stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Beside her, Cho was slumped forward, staring at the TV without taking anything in. I watched from the doorway.<br>Yes, Cinema Bizarre had been gone for a week. Even Bachiko was still having trouble adjusting. Twice I'd caught her looking for the guys with the plans for some prank forming in her head.  
>"Are you guys still moping?" Fuji asked. She was standing in the kitchen, watching a TV dinner rotate in the microwave. Right now she was shooting a quizzical look through the doorway at our guitarists.<br>"Don't act like you aren't," Cho grumbled, not taking her eyes from the screen.  
>Fuji didn't respond. Instead, she bit her lip and turned back to the microwave, now glaring.<br>I sighed and went up to my room. I wasn't a drinker, so I relied on manga and anime to drown my sorrows. Now I stared at the waist-high stack next to my bed, wondering which series I could read without stirring up painful memories.  
>"Hm...<em>Fullmetal Alchemist<em> or _Lucky Star_?" I asked myself aloud, running my index finger along the spines. Against my will, it came to a stop on _NANA_-Strify's favorite.  
>I sighed loudly. The cynical part of me rolled it's eyes. What did you expect? it asked without sympathy, You knew they wouldn't stay forever. Their home is in Germany.<br>I ignored it and instead grabbed the book on the top of the stack, volume 7 of _FAKE_. If Dee and Ryo couldn't distract me, it was hopeless.  
>The multitude of pillows and plushies engulfed me as I settled onto the bed. Using the remote to my stereo, I turned on "SHUNKASHUUTO" by Alice Nine. Nothing like a little Japanese immersion to clear the mind, right?<p>

I had been staring at Dee standing on the rooftop of the 27th Precinct's building for ten minutes before I even took in what he was saying. "Vanilla" by Gackt was playing now, and, to my disappointment, I couldn't even get lost in the music. Groaning, I laid _FAKE _on my pillow and buried my face in plushie-Grimmjow's electric blue hair.  
>Everything reminded me of Cinema Bizarre-especially Strify. I wondered if it was a simple case of having spent too much time with them or something else. In Ai's and Cho's cases, it was obvious that it was something more. In mine, I was as clueless as I had ever been.<br>Reading over to grab the jewel case of my Final Attraction CD, I sighed. The cover art hadn't changed, of course, but it somehow felt different to me. As I moved to set it back down, a flash of white caught my eye.  
>There was a slip of paper stuck between the pages where Strify's picture was printed. In his curly, too-perfect-for-a-guy handwriting, the not read simply, "Till we meet again."<br>I managed a weak smile. All we need is fantasy, right?

**PART TWO-Cinema Bizarre**  
>Strify stared glumly out the window of the cab as it crawled it's way down Münzstraße. Yu and Kiro were in the cab next to him, also in low spirits and buried under their friend's purchases. When even shopping couldn't cure Stify's blues, everyone knew things were bad.<br>Nobody spoke until they had stumbled through the doorway of their apartment and dropped the multitude of bags on the couches-even the cabbie had only gotten a halfhearted nod of thanks. Now Strify slumped down into the couch beside everything he'd bought, still sulking.  
>"You guys miss them too."<br>It was a statement, not a question, spoken in a voice that was unusually somber for any of them, even Kiro. Especially Kiro.  
>"Of course," Yu grumbled, stomping back into the room from the kitchen, a can of beer now clutched in one hand.<br>Just then, Strify's phone rang. I really should change the ringtone, he thought idly. It only made him feel worse. It was a recording; Saya sang "My Boy" by Buono!, surprisingly well given that the song was both Japanese and fast-paced, while the rest of them laughed in the background.  
>"Really?" he heard Yu mutter as he answered the call quickly.<br>Yes, really. All we need is fantasy, right?


	11. Contest? What contest?

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**1****1-Contest? What Contest?**

"It's not working," I informed Cho lazily. I was lying on my back on the deck of a rented motorboat, staring up at the bright blue sky. "Watch Me Move" by Fefe Dobson vibrated the air around us and I could feel the sun beating down on my pale skin as I sprawled there in only my black swimsuit and oversized sunglasses, hoping-like the others-that the water and sun would suck the depression out of me.

It wasn't working.

"I know," Cho groaned, twisting the steering wheel a little farther and faster than she had intended. Ai let out a yelp and grabbed the bars over her head.

"Hey, is that...?" I heard her start. Turning my head, I could see her peering out over the water.

"What?" Fuji asked, a little irritably. She crossed the boat to stand by Ai. Curious, I sat up to see too.

There was another boat not far away from us, but I couldn't make out who it was yet. Nevertheless, distinctive hedgehog-hair caught my eye. I stiffened involuntarily. Bill Kaulitz?

Sure enough, as they drew closer I could see that it was Tokio Hotel. Bill, Tom, Georg, and Gustav all lounged on the deck, grinning over at us.

"Last time I checked, we were in Washington. Not Germany," Bachiko commented dryly.

"Hey," Tom called when Georg had guided the boat close enough, his thick accent not interfering with our comprehension, "Are you Mayonaka Soñodora?"

"Yes!" Ai called back cheerfully. The familiar gleam of excitement was back in her eyes, and I found that I couldn't help but smile.

A grin broke out across Tom's face, and a matching gleam appeared in his eyes. Bill was grinning too as his eyes roved over us, the boat, and the clear blue. Georg and Gustav both offered tiny smiles, as if they had other things on their minds.

"You're those Hotel faggots, aren't you?" Bachiko asked, earning herself four surprised looks.

"No, those were the other guys," Fuji corrected, not understanding what Bachiko meant.

"No, those were the stalker faggots," Bachiko protested, "These are the Hotel faggots."

"She means this is Tokio Hotel," I amended, taking pity on Fuji, who had confusion etched all across her face.

"Yeah," Bill jumped in, before they lost track of the conversation again, "DJ Rob told us we'd find you guys out here.

This distracted Bachiko from whatever rant was building in her mind like a storm. "He did?" she asked, staring wide-eyed at Bill, "What the hell!"

"Did you need something from us?" asked Ai-as usual, he was the more rational of the two.

Georg looked confused. "Didn't he tell you about the contest?" he asked in his deep, moderately accented voice.

"Contest? What contest?" Bachiko asked, her interest piqued.

Now all the Tokio Hotel boys were giving us quizzical looks. Except for Avril Lavigne belting out "Smile", it was silent between us.

"Oops," Ai said suddenly, her voice small.

We all turned to look at her. Blushing, she admitted, "Yeah, I kinda forgot about that. DJ Rob called me last week."

"Last week!" Fuji helped, loud enough to make even Bachiko wince, "And you didn't say anything?"

"I forgot," Ai grumbled, averting her eyes, "besides, I haven't exactly been in the mood to retain information."

"In one ear and out the other," I remarked dolefully. Tom snickered.

"What is this contest, anyway?" Cho asked, turning to the new set of Germans. Apparently she didn't consider Ai trustworthy enough to answer the question.

"Because there are a lot of fans of both us and those Cinema Bizarre guys, Cherry Tree wanted to have a contest between us," Bill explained, "We'll both play five songs, then the public is supposed to vote. Since you guys are new and you know Cinema Bizarre, the company decided you should open for us."

"Where and when?" Fuji asked, sounding half skeptical, half excited.

"On Saturday night at The Market," Bill replied, an infectious grin taking over his features. I did the math in my head. Ai's forgetfulness had left us four days to prepare. Wait...

"Does this mean Cinema Bizarre is coming back?" Ai asked excitedly, voicing the thought that had just occurred to me.

Bill and Tom blinked in confusion simultaneously. I stifled a giggle; their matching blank expressions were adorable.

"Yes," Bill began slowly, watching us closely for more strange reactions.

Suddenly, the whole day seemed brighter. Katy Perry's voice, singing "Teenage Dream" was one of the best sounds I'd ever heard. It suddenly struck me just how much I'd missed the guys.

"Alright," I started, trying not to show my excitement despite the grin plastered across my face, "what are the nine of us going to do?"

The Tokio Hotel boys' expressions relaxed into grins. Apparently the good mood in the atmosphere was contagious.

"Let's race!" Bill suggested excitedly, and Georg hurried back over to the wheel. Before any of us could respond, Cho turned back to the wheel. Knowing there would be no arguing now, I dived for cover. Bachiko and Ai followed suit and Fuji hunkered down in her seat and gripped the bar so hard her knuckles bleached.

I turned to Ai. "You know," I hissed, "I'm glad we met Tokio Hotel and all, but if we survive this, I'll make sure Bill doesn't."

Four hours later I stumbled through the doors of the Cherry Tree offices, accompanied by the rest of Mayonaka Soñodora. DJ Rob had called us as we sat out on the lake, chatting lazily with Tokio Hotel. Now, as we stood waiting for out producer to appear from who-knows-where, I took the chance to examine my appearance in his wall of mirrors. I grimaced.

My skin, sensitive to sun, had turned fiery red across my cheekbones and shoulders. My hair was tangled and several curly wisps had escaped from the ponytail I had forced it into. I was wearing my prescription glasses now, and they sat lopsidedly on my burned nose. My oversized Abbey Dawn tanktop and faded black soccer shorts made my limbs look as thin as chicken legs, and the polish was wearing off my finger- and toenails.

The others weren't much better off. Bachiko kept poking her sunburned shoulder, fascinated by the rapidly fading white spots left by her index finger. Fuji looked sleepy, as she always did after she sunburned. Cho fidgeted and tugged at her Nevada Wolfpack t-shirt, adjusting her swimsuit top over her burned chest. Ai was trying to massage tanning oil into her skin, hoping to counter some of the sunburn. Each of us had already applied several coats of aloe to our skin.

"You guys look like hell," DJ Rob announced as he stepped into the room. I responded with a half-hearted glare while, behind me, Cho snatched the bottle of tanning oil from Ai.

"Right..." he continued after a moment, "Anyway, I wanted to know what you guys had in mind to open the contest."

"Contest? What contest?" Bachiko asked again, but she couldn't keep a straight face. DJ Rob and I both rolled our eyes.

"We don't know yet. Ai forgot to mention it." I shot her a glare.

"Bill told us about it," Fuji explained before DJ Rob could ask.

"Alright then," he responded, "Do you have any questions?" His eyes roved over each of us, taking in our burned skin and tired eyes. I thought for a moment.

"Can we throw Bill to the fans?"


	12. Cinema Bizarre Comes Back

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**1****2-Cinema Bizarre Comes Back**

I could feel Bill and Gustav watching me as I leaned precariously to the side, trying to see around the crowds in the airport. Cinema Bizarre's flight had just arrived and everyone-meaning me, the other girls, Tokio Hotel, DJ Rob, and some female manager I'd never seen before-was waiting for them.

"Do you see them?" Cho asked, standing on tiptoe and bracing herself against Tom's shoulders.

"Nope," Bachiko replied carelessly. She was trying to appear nonchalant, leaning against the wall, but her gaze kept straying over to he doors Cinema Bizarre would be walking through any minute now. Behind her, Ai stood on a bench to see over the heads of the crowd.

"Relax! God, you three are like a bunch of kids on Christmas Eve," snapped the irritable woman manager. I flashed her a cheeky grin.

Ai ignored her, focusing instead on Fuji. "You don't think they missed their flight, do you?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm guessing not," Fuji replied, nodding towards the doors, "But if they did, their clones must have come instead."

As she spoke, the group finally appeared, led-as usual-by Strify.

"Yu!" Ai squealed as the guitarist appeared, framed in the doorway for only a moment before he passed through and Kiro appeared instead.

"Were they trying to be 'fashionably late'?" I heard Gustav ask Georg in a whisper behind me.

Then Strify was in front of me, grinning from ear to ear. Emotion swelled within me and my breath caught. 

Then he was hugging me tightly, and all romantic ideals of a happy reunion fled my mind. Have you ever been crushed into a hug by a gorgeous German singer? It's not as great as it sounds; it hurts.

"'Till we meet again', huh?" I wheezed, "What was that about,"

"Admit it, you missed me," he murmured in my ear. I didn't have a response for that.

"So..." Tom began awkwardly from behind us. I turned as Strify released me to see the Tokio Hotel boys looking slightly uncomfortable and out-of-place. Glancing around, I saw Kiro and Cho next to me, still talking in low voices. Bachiko was leaning against Shin with an arm around Romeo's shoulders, one of her trademark scheming smirks plastered on her face. Fuji was talking to DJ Rob, pointedly ignoring the makeout session between Yu and Ai going on behind her. The manager-woman was focused entirely on her iPhone, her thumb flying across the screen.

"Anyway," I chirped, clapping my hands together once, "Now everyone's here, so what's next on the agenda?"

Manager-woman looked up at me, her eyes bored. I briefly wondered why she was even here. She let out an explosive sigh, which served to fan the flames of my dislike.

"Right," she began, "The contest is tonight, so you'll all have to get your instruments ready. But first-"

"I don't care how many guitars you bring," Bill told Tom, cutting her off, "but you're carrying your own,"

The woman glared at the leather-clad singer for a moment before continuing. "First, you'll all have to attend a photoshoot. It would've been nice to have gotten this done in time to use the shots for promotion, but the fans will love them anyway. As soon as the five of you drop your things off at the hotel, you'll meet us all at Cherry Tree." With that, she walked away, stiletto heels clicking. She didn't so much as glance back to see if anyone wad following.

"Bitch," I muttered.

"You can say that again," DJ Rob sighed.

Bitch or not, she knew the schedule. In forty minutes, Cinema Bizarre met the rest of us at the Cherry Tree offices. A photographer joined us, his large, blocky camera hanging from a strap around his neck. When the entire group had assembled, Bitch-manager led us back to the dressing rooms.

"Tokio Hotel in there, Cinema Bizarre in that one, and the girls in here," she ordered, pointing at different doors. I rolled my eyes and followed Ai into our designated room.

Inside, there were several racks overflowing with clothing. I just had time to see Ai's eyes widen before she rushed forward to start investigating. I sat back on a bench in front of a wide mirror; this was her area of expertise.

She decided to go for dark outfits with a pop of color this time. I ended up dressed in a red tube top and a black miniskirt over black leggings. Tall black boots with boxy heels encased my legs from the knee down, and matching black wristbands hugged my wrists. Black studs and silver hoops decorated my ears, and a black lace choker encircled my neck, fading into the dark curls spilling over my shoulders. Cat-like black eyeliner gave me a more intense look.

Bachiko wore an orange tanktop under a black midriff top. Dark grey skinny jeans clung to her legs until they disappeared inside ankle-high black boots. Her hair was straight, falling down her back like a chocolate waterfall. A small silver peace sign hung from a black cord tied around her neck, and matching earrings dangled from her ears. A simple, thin line of black eyeliner accented both eyelids.

Cho wore navy blue jeans and a matching tailored jacket over an electric blue halter top. Black pumps added to her height-something I certainly didn't approve of. A complex silver chain circled her throat, draping down to touch her clavicle. Blue eyeliner and black mascara made her eyes pop from a face that was already displayed beautifully by the way her hair was pinned back with silver bobbi pins arranged in an X shape.

Fuji wore black jeans and flat-soled black boots. She wore a Chinese-style top in lime green silk, which complemented her light skin tone perfectly. Her eyeshadow was dark grey with a splash of lime green. Like Bachiko, her hair was straight and silky. A shiny, dark green clip pulled her bangs back on one side. A slim silver chain suspended a green flower pendant around her neck.

Ai herself wore a black, sleeveless shirt patterned with hot pink and white stars and hearts. She wore black jeans, black slouch boots with heels, and a white studded belt. Her hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, curling gently at the ends. A reddish-pink choker hugged her throat and her ears were riddled with black and pink studs, silver hoops, and a silver cuff. Pink eyeshadow and black eyeliner darkened her bright blue eyes.

Finished, we returned to the hall. Moments later Tokio Hotel emerged as well, Bill still tugging at the sleeves of his leather jacket. Tom and Georg smiled at us while Gustav played with his drumsticks. I grinned-clearly that was something all drummers did, not just Fuji and Shin.

"You guys look great," Tom told us, grinning despite the sincerity in his eyes.

Ai and Cho grinned back and Ai made a tiny bow.

"Thank you," she fake-simpered, turning to survey her handiwork one last time.

Just then Cinema Bizarre emerged, every hair perfectly in place and excited smiles on their faces. In the face of what was about to happen, I realized that an old theory of mine was correct-pictures can never do a person justice.

Tokio Hotel wore a lot of leather, but it looked as if Cinema Bizarre was trying to look like a grayscale photo of the '80s. Kiro even wore a black fedora like one I had both owned and lost a few years ago.

"Well, are you all finally ready?" Bitch-manager asked in clipped tones, her impatience beginning to show.

"No, we thought we'd take a quick field trip to Narnia first," Ai replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Bitch-manager pursed her lips and spun on her heel. I was disappointed that it didn't snap under her.

Sighing, DJ Rob motioned for us to follow. We made our way down the long hallway and turned left, then left again into a large white room where the photographer stood waiting with his camera. Several backdrops were set up on the far side of the room. On our side, cords littered the ground like snakes, slithering toward lamps, cameras, and other paraphernalia crowding the space.

"Geez," Fuji muttered under her breath as Bachiko plopped herself down on a box against the wall.

Bill smiled over at us. "That's right. You guys are new to this, aren't you?"

I just shrugged. I was too nervous to speak at the moment.

"Okay, Tokio Hotel first," the photographer ordered, his voice dull with boredom.

The four of them approached the screen and posed. From then on, the shutter clicked, the photographer barked commands, and everyone seemed to relax. Cinema Bizarre followed Tokio Hotel's individual shots, and then it was our turn. My nervousness faded in the flurry of activity.

Then it was time for my last shot-Bill and Strify with me between them. As I leaned back against Strify's shoulder, I felt his arm slip around my waist. The shutter clicked.

"Oi, are you done yet?" Bill called lazily from the back door of The Market. He had it propped open with his foot, looking back over his shoulder. I stood next to him, my arms crossed over my chest as I watched Shin, Fuji, and Gustav lift drums and cymbals from the back of Cinema Bizarre's rental van. Georg, Cho, Kiro, and Ai stood nearby, instruments slung over their shoulders. We all shivered in the chilly, April night air, envying Yu, Romeo, Strify, Bachiko, and Tom, who were inside setting things up.

"Almost," Shin huffed, struggling to support the bass drum while keeping his grip on one of the stands. Fuji stepped in to help him, holding the cymbals under one arm.

Bill scoffed. "C'mon, let's go inside," he said to me, taking my hand and pulling me through the door. I was too cold to protest, even as Ai shouted after me.

Inside, the building was warm and dark. Technicians hurried around, ignoring us as we made our way to the stage.

"Are they all icicles out there?" Yu asked, spotting us. Strify turned, and I noticed his eyes lock onto my hand, entwined with Bill's. I dropped the offending appendage, offering a nervous smile.

"Not yet," Bill replied, laughing as he pushed his hair away from his face.

I approached Bachiko and Strify, standing near the front microphone. "So, is this thing working?" I asked, tapping the mesh-like top. I ignored the beautiful blue-green eyes watching me curiously.

"Yeah. Now we just have to check the others," Bachiko informed me, sighing as if it was extremely grueling work to speak into a microphone. I rolled my eyes at her and strode over to the second stand, my booted feet producing soft thumps each time they hit the stage.

"Hello! Hellooo! Is this thing on?" I asked into the microphone. My voice echoed back at me from speakers set into the walls.

"This one works," I announced, smiling back at Strify and Bachiko. They grinned in return.

Just then, the others stumbled in with the drums and other instruments.

"Thanks a lot," Georg panted, shooting a glare at Bill, who just shrugged.

"Alright people, focus!" Cho barked then, taking charge. I pretended to jump to attention, eliciting a laugh from Bachiko.

In less than twenty minutes, the fourteen of us had the stage set up with the help of a few tech guys. We left the techies to check the rest of the equipment while we went to warm up. We were all still wearing our outfits from the photoshoot, though I was having doubts about performing in a tube top. As the others started warming up, I slipped away to change into a tanktop, also red.

Bitch-manager was in the bathroom, talking on the phone in a low, urgent voice.

"No Micah, we can't afford that," she snapped, tears evident in her voice, "I know! I don't know..."

I changed quickly and left, wondering what I'd just heard. She never noticed me.

"Spinn, spinn?" I heard Bachiko asking as I opened the door of the warm-up room.

"You know that song?" Bill asked in surprise. He was watching Bachiko with wide eyes.

"Yup. High school does teach you a few things," I told him, readjusting my choker.

We finished warming up just as Bitch-manager and DJ Rob came in to send us out on stage.

"Good luck," Romeo murmured as we passed him on the way out the door. I flashed him a tiny smile full of nervous excitement.

The crowd roared as we appeared, making my heart swell. I shouted a greeting into the mic and we began to play "Don't Wanna Be Romeo and Juliet". When we finished, I waited just long enough for the noise to die down a bit, then introduced the five of us. After that we played "Empty Frame", "Keeping Me Alive", "Stranger", and, of course, "Voices in My Head". We finished and I gave our names again before we left the stage.

Tokio Hotel played a medley of songs after us, beginning with "Scream". Backstage, we started dancing with Cinema Bizarre. Bill gave their names (not that the crowd needed them) and they continued. "Reden" followed "Scream" and "Automatic" followed that. Next came "Love Is Dead", which I had told Bill was one of my favorites. They finished up with a new song before returning backstage.

"Your turn," I chirped, smiling at the Bizarre boys, "Good luck."

"We won't need it," Yu assured me with a wink, "We're gonna kill this show!"

"As long as you don't kill the audience," Fuji joked, grinning.

Romeo laughed as he led the way on stage, followed by Yu, who was sticking his tongue out at Fuji.

They began the performance with Ai's and Cho's favorite song, "Dysfunctional Family". After their introductions they played two of my favorites, "Modern Lover" and "Forever or Never". Bachiko's favorite song, "Angel In Disguise", followed, and they also finished with a new song.

"You guys rocked!" Ai gushed as they left the stage.

"Told you so," Yu replied smugly, winking at her.

"Alright guys!" came a familiar male voice from the stage, "We're going to vote now. Cheer when I call out the band's name."

The crowd became as hushed as it was going to get. I peeked around the curtains to see who was on the stage. A grin spread across my face; the speaker was Blake Lewis.

"Tokio Hotel!"

The crowd roared. I could hear Bill and Georg cheering behind me. It took Blake several minutes to calm the audience down.

"Cinema Bizarre!"

his produced the same reaction. Gustav said something to Shin, but I couldn't hear it over Yu's and Strify's nervous, excited laughter. Finally, Blake spoke again.

"Alright, well, that was too close to call, so let's try this again.

"Tokio Hotel!"

Same reaction.

"Cinema Bizarre!"

Same reaction.

"Mayonaka Soñodora?"

To our surprise, this also produced the same reaction.

"Well," Blake said finally, "looks like it's a three-way draw. Have a nice night everybody!"

With that he walked off the stage. The crowd cheered, but the fourteen of us backstage just stood in shock.

"Well that was..." Kiro began.

"Pointless," Fuji finished.

"Hey, do you guys want to go get something to eat?" Tom asked me and the other girls as Cinema Bizarre walked away.


	13. Step With It

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**1****3-Step With It**

"I could eat everything in here," Bachiko announced as we walked into a Chinese buffet.

"I'd like to see you try," Gustav told her. Then, seeing the glint of challenge in her eyes, he hastily added, "I'm just kidding."

"Hello!" called one of the waitresses, waving exuberantly at us. Tokio Hotel turned to us in surprise, only to see us grinning sheepishly.

"Do you guys come here a lot?" Tom asked, amusement playing across his features.

"Kinda," Cho admitted embarrassedly. I pretended to in ore the question and followed our friend/usual waitress, Lani, to a table in the back.

"So, who's this?" Lani asked conspiratorially when the others had walked away, leaving only me and Cho at the table.

"That's Tokio Hotel," Cho answered, "Bill, Tom, Georg, and Gustav. They came to town for a contest."

"Contest?" Lani looked confused.

"Between them and Cinema Bizarre," I explained, "since they're both popular German bands."

"What about LaFee?" Lani asked, her brow furrowing.

"Ooh, it would've been nice to have her too," I admitted, thinking about it.

"Who?" Cho asked, confused.

Just then, one of the other waiters, Mao, passed us. "Xiao! Get back to work before Boss sees you," he hissed to Lani.

Her eyes widened and she looked around anxiously. Seeing no threat, she offered us a quick smile before hurrying away. We waved after her, then turned to the buffet tables.

"Who's LaFee?" Cho asked.

"She's a popular artist over in Germany," Gustav explained as we passed him.

I nodded. "You've probably heard 'Ich Bin Ich'. I play it all the time."

Cho's expression cleared. "Oh yeah, that song! Do you really think an American audience would appreciate it though?"

"Americans are pretty ignorant," I mused, shrugging, "but the crowd liked 'Reden', didn't it?"

"I liked that song, but I couldn't understand it," Bachiko commented as she walked past us.

"That's because it is in German," Georg called to her from across the table.

"No, it was in gibberish!" Bachiko snapped back defensively. I rolled my eyes at the exchange.

The meal passed in a stream of chatter and food. When Lani's and Mao's shift ended, they joined us. We were halfway through our second plates when "Seraph Serenade" played from my phone. Excusing myself and snatching my jacket, I hurried outside to answer Strify's call.

"Moshi-moshi?" I greeted, a teasing note creeping into my voice.

He laughed. "I was hoping we could speak in English. I'm not sure I could carry out this conversation in Japanese."

I wrinkled my nose, though of course he couldn't see it. "Spoil sport," I pouted.

"What?" he asked, confused. The simple question reminded me that he was German and didn't know as much of the English language as he sometimes seemed to.

"Never mind," I told him, "What did you call for?"

I could hear the grin in his voice as he asked, "Do you and the other girls want to join us at a club in half an hour?"

The first thought that flashed through my mind was that Ai would love this situation. The second was the realization that I wanted it too.

"Sure," I told him, "Which club?"

Twenty minutes later, we were waiting outside a nondescript building with a darkened interior. Tokio Hotel had gone back to their hotel, but I still wasn't sure how we'd managed to politely ditch them.

"I think this is the longest we've ever worn concert outfits," Bachiko observed, pulling her blue jacket more tightly around herself.

"Duh," Cho replied gruffly. The cold air was making her short-tempered.

"Hey," said a smooth voice to our left.

We turned to see Yu, wearing a leather jacket over a black tanktop, with his hands shoved in the pockets of tight black jeans. The others, behind him, had all changed too. Strify wore a tight-fitting, black Led Zeppelin t-shirt and white pants with a blue tailored jacket. Shin wore a black hood with grey skinny jeans, a flash of blue showing where his jacket was unzipped. Romeo wore black jeans with a grey t-shirt and red jacket, and Kiro wore dark grey jeans, a feminine t-shirt, and his favorite white belt with a matching jacket.

"Finally," Cho grumbled, rubbing her arms through the thin black fabric of her hoodie.

"Were you waiting long?" Kiro asked, sounding surprised.

"Long enough," Ai hedged. She turned, took Yu's hand, and led the way inside.

Inside, the bass dominated the air. The floors, the walls, and even the people all vibrated around us. I barely recognized a remix of Kerli's "Army of Love" over the beat. As we moved onto the dance floor, our group dissolved and melted away into the crowd.

Before I knew it, I was left with only Strify. He scanned the crowd, looking equally confused.

"Well...that worked well," I commented sarcastically.

Strify shrugged. "Well, we might as well enjoy ourselves," he suggested, giving a little spin as Kerli's voice faded.

I nodded thoughtfully. Before I could reply, the pleasure the next song brought me erased all possibility of rational thought. My body swayed in time to The Crystal Method and Stephanie King Warfield's "Black Rainbows", my eyelids fluttering shut. The variety of notes seemed to dance across my skin, causing me to forget where I was.

Strify was staring at me as I opened my eyes. A light, unusual flush dusted his cheeks, and his mouth hung open.

I crossed my arms over my chest, made self-conscious by his staring. What?" I asked gruffly.

"That was...amazing," he breathed, barely audible over the noise of the crowd.

It was my turn to blush as the familiar chords of Namie Amuro's "Step With It" vibrated the air. We just watched each other as the other dancers swayed around us. I tried to focus on the Japanese lyrics to forget the moment, but instead the English lyrics gave it more clarity.

"_I know you're really wanting me..."_

I snuck a glance at Strify from under my thick, dark bangs. Lights flashed across his pale face, mouth now closed and blush replaced by a gaze of intense curiousisity.

"_I'm really wantin' you, baby..._"

He stepped closer, and I kept my eyes on his. He whispered my name, leaning in.

He kissed me.


	14. On the Plane

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**1****4-On the Plane**

"Looks like that contest got a lot of attention," Cho commented, studying on the the magazines laid out on the table in DJ Rob's office. She couldn't read it, as it was in German, but the page she had opened to to featured a shot of Bill and Strify from our photoshoot.  
>It had been two months since the contest, but neither band had left yet. This morning DJ Rob had called us to Cherry Tree, saying he had a proposition. I was hoping it was a paid trip to somewhere sunny, as the June air still hadn't quite warmed up to summer temperatures in Seattle.<br>"It says people in Germany are curious about the matchup too," I told Cho, reading over her shoulder. I had taken German in high school. Though I could never quite figure out how to speak it, I could translate written information well enough to get by.  
>"Do you think that's what DJ Rob wants to talk to us about?" Ai asked, her blue eyes wide. A nervous tremble tugged at her lips; she didn't want to lose Yu again.<br>"Something like that," DJ Rob's voice answered before I could. He was leaning against the doorframe of his office, arms crossed over his chest. As we watched, he came into the office, passed us, and sat down at his desk before speaking. His eyes were calculating as he spoke.  
>"How would you girls like to go to Germany?"<p>

Apparently Germany had been so intrigued by the "contest," they wanted to reenact the show. Ai, Cho, and Bachiko were excited about the trip, and Fuji was excited about what it could mean for us, but all I could do was worry about the language barrier.  
>"Don't worry, I can translate for you," Strify assured me. I could tell that he was trying not to look hurt about the fact that I hadn't asked for his help.<br>As we boarded the plane a week after DJ Rob had told us about the trip and 2 days after Tokio Hotel had left for a concert scheduled earlier in the year, I tried to relax. It was in my nature to be independent and self-sufficient, much like my mother, but I should have known better than to try to do everything myself.  
>The flight has few passengers compared to some I'd been on, but there was enough to make sitting in coach a bit uncomfortable. I sat wedged between Strify and the window, watching the people below us load the cargo on.<br>"Does this always take so long?" Bachiko complained in my ear. She sat behind me, next to Fuji.  
>"Pretty much," I sighed back. With nothing better to do, I curled up in my seat to start reading <em>The Bar Code Rebellion<em> for the third time.  
>"A new book already?" Strify asked, surprised. Just the day before I'd been stretched out across his lap, barely halfway through Allison Brennan's <em>Killing Fear<em>.  
>Now, I shrugged. "I couldn't sleep last night," I admitted. A huge yawn followed the statement, illustrating my problem. I grinned up into Strify's face, ignoring his reproachful frown.<br>He rolled his eyes. "I don't know hoe you don't get sick of all those pages," he commented.  
>"It's all about the stories, not the pages," I explained, scanning a passage about August's fate.<br>"Yeah...sure," Strify muttered, sounding unconvinced.  
>I smiled to myself as he slipped his arm around me. My worries could wait; for now, I would just enjoy the flight.<br>Around noon, we touched down at New York's LaGuardia airport to catch a connecting flight to get overseas. We has a 6-hour layover, and Strify saw that as the perfect opportunity to get some shopping in.  
>"It'll take us half an hour just to get to the city, I told him, frowning.<br>"Who cares?" pressed Ai, who also wanted to go, "I know you've been here a lot, but this is our first time."  
>Looking around at Ai, Cho, Bachiko, and Strify's hopeful faces, I couldn't say no.<br>"We didn't get to see much last time we were here," Kiro added, adding another weight to their argument.  
>"Fine, whatever," I grumbled, wondering how and when it had become my decision, "but we have to say hi to my family and we're going to Forbidden Planet.<br>Ai and Strify cheered, swinging each other around in a victory dance that caught the attention of several passersby. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.  
>"What about Chinatown?" Bachiko asked hopefully.<br>I shook my head firmly at that. "_That_ is a day trip, not a quick visit," I informed her.

Five hours later we arrived back at the airport, arms laden with purchases. There was a murmur of excitement among us, muted from the buzz it could've been by exhaustion from dealing with the crowds and, worse than that, my family. New Yorkers are a distinctive kind of people-high-energy, short-temper, no patience, oversized ego.  
>"Suddenly a long plane ride doesn't seem so bad," Fuji groaned, falling into one of the empty chairs by our gate.<br>"I'm gonna sleep," Bachiko informed us, curling up around a plush she'd bought at Forbidden Planet. I sank into a seat opposite them, my nose already buried in the newest volume of Shugo Chara! Encore!  
>Strify took the sets next to me, and beyond him, Ai and Yu shared a seat. Shin dropped into the seat next to Bachiko, his head pillowed on her back. She shot him a confused, slightly derogatory look over her shoulder, but she didn't say anything.<br>"How long do we have to wait here?" Romeo asked, rubbing his hand over his tired face.  
>Fuji checked the time on her phone. "Twenty minutes to an hour, depending on when we board," she replied.<br>"Too long," Kiro groaned dramatically, pretending to fall against Cho. She yawned as if to agree with him.  
>In the end, we only had to wait half an hour. Then we were all settled into the could-be-comfier seats of the plane's cabin, waiting for takeoff. I sat by the window again, with Strify to my left and Romeo to his. Shin, Bachiko, and Fuji sat in front of us, and Kiro, Cho, Yu, and Ai took the two rows across the aisle.<br>As the plane rumbled towards the runway, I yawned.  
>"Saya? Are you tired?" Romeo asked, leaning around Strify to look at me. Strify leaned back making an odd face.<br>I nodded. "Couldn't sleep last night," I murmured.  
>He gave me a look of sympathy before sitting back.<br>Strify leaned close. "Why don't you try to sleep?" he asked, "We won't be landing in Berlin for 8 hours or so."  
>I nodded sleepily. "Ok," I murmured, resting my head on his shoulder. My eyelids slid shut as I felt the gentle pressure of his lips on my hair. Not long after, I was lost to sleep.<p> 


	15. Triple Date

**M****ayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**1****5-Triple Date**

In the end, the language barrier wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it might be. Also, as he'd promised, Strify took care of most of the talking. To say I was relieved would be an understatement.  
>Saturday morning, three days before the contest reenactment, Cho and I were lounging around our hotel room while Bachiko and Fuji swam down at the pool and Ai had disappeared somewhere with Yu. Cho was channel surfing, trying to find something she could understand. I wandered around the room with no apparent purpose.<br>"I want a platinum blonde life, so I keep bleaching out the color," I sang as "Platinum Blonde Life" by No Doubt played in my ears.  
>"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" Cho wailed, hitting the power button on the remote.<br>I paused my iPod. "Just be glad they're not showing Treffpunkt Berlin," I told her, "I had to watch season 1 twice. Tanja's a bitch."  
>She just gave me a blank look. I sighed, shrugged, and was about to walk away when there was a knock at the door of the hotel room. I hurried to answer it, standing on tiptoe to see through the peephole.<br>It was Strify and Kiro. They looked excited, which infected my mood. Cho stood behind me, trying to see over my shoulder as I opened the door.  
>"Hello," Kiro chirped, pushing past us into the room, "What are you doing this afternoon?"<br>"Nothing," Cho replied eagerly. I nodded in agreement.  
>"Good," Strify told us, throwing an arm around my shoulders, "I think a date night is in order."<br>"A date night?" I asked apprehensively.  
>"Yep," Kiro replied, "How do a movie and a trip to the arcade sound?"<br>I didn't have to think twice about that, social awkwardness aside. "I'm in," I told them quickly.  
>Cho thought for a minute. "Language?" she asked.<br>Strify grinned. "I'm sure we can find something in English," he assured her. She nodded.  
>"Ok, it's settled then!" Kiro announced, "We'll go when Ai and Yu get back!"<br>"So they're just gonna play around all day, huh?" I asked dully.  
>Strify shrugged. "Something like that."<p>

Just twenty minutes later, Ai came bursting into the room, dragging Yu behind her. "Ok, let's get started," she cheered," throwing a wink in my direction. I fought down a blush.  
>"I want to change first," Cho pouted.<br>"So do I," Strify added hastily.  
>I rolled my eyes, but went along with them. When we finally left the hotel, each of us was wearing a new outfit.<br>I wore a white t-shirt with rainbow leopard spots scattered across it with a pair of dark-wash blue skinny jeans. Over that I wore a leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up to my elbows. My black slouch boots added a couple inches to my height. Finishing the look, I wore a pair of silver studs in my ears with small bronze leopards dangling from them, nearly hidden by the thick, straight chestnut hair falling down to my lover back.  
>Cho wore a simple, plain, white tank top with blue skinny-jeans. With that she wore her ankle high boots. Around her neck hung a long, Shoshone-style necklace. Her hair was down and slightly wavy, gleaming like her copper and bronze eyeshadow.<br>Ai wore a form-fitting electric blue halter top and a black miniskirt with strappy high heels. A light, white jacket covered her shoulders, and her long hair was pulled into a low ponytail, partially braided. Electric blue eyeshadow rimmed her eyes like eyeliner.  
>The guys all wore t-shirts and tit-fitting jeans with jackets. It wasn't long before we were all ready to go, and Strify had checked out the nearby theaters for a movie.<br>"That new Underworld movie finally made it over here," he suggested, wrapping an arm around my waist.  
>"Awakening?" Ai asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling, "I love that movie!"<br>"Good," Yu purred, smiling down at his date.  
>When we arrived at the theater, I let Strify take care of the details while I stared around the wide lobby with its rich red carpet and tan walls. Bachiko's basement in our hometown was the opposite, and a sense of nostalgia tugged at my consciousness. I shook it off and examined the posters on the walls until Strify reclaimed my attention, saying, "Come on."<br>He took my hand and led me into the darkened room with its huge screen. It was early; no other patrons were there yet. Ai took the lead and led us right down to the open space between the screen and the first row of seats.  
>"Geez, these things are huge," Cho muttered, staring up at the blank expanse of fabric that was at least five times her height.<br>"It makes me feel so short," Kiro complained, his head tipped back to follow her gaze.  
>"You are short," Strify told him, rolling his eyes.<br>"He's taller than I am," I reminded the other singer grumpily. He looked slightly abashed and didn't reply.  
>By the time the next group entered the theater, we were sprawled out across the no-man's-land and the previews were playing in a cycle.<br>"We should just sit here to watch," Strify commented. His breath tickled my cheek as he spoke, since his chin rested on my shoulder.  
>"I wish," Ai replied mournfully, "but can you even see half of what's on the screen?"<br>There was a moment of silence. "No," Kiro admitted finally.  
>With that, we gathered up our stuff and moved to a group of seats about halfway back. Not long after that, seats began to fill up. Then the movie started.<br>It had only been about an hour when Strify leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Ai must really like this movie."  
>I looked to see what he meant. Beside me, Yu was watching Ai almost expectantly, but she was focused on the screen. Strify was staring at me when I turned around again, and it took me a moment to realize he was hinting that we were in the same situation.<br>I offered a sheepish smile. He leaned in and kissed me.

After the movie, the guys took us to an arcade near our hotel. I was guck to find a fighting game-my specialty-and it wasn't long before a small crowd had gathered around me.  
>My character was a slim but muscular girl with dark hair. She wore loose robes and some sort of headdress. I had chosen her because she reminded me of the female swordmage I used on the online game Warriors Saga. Currently, she was kicking the computer's ass. True to form, I played recklessly and instinctively.<br>Before we left, Strify and Ai convinced me to play a round of DDR against Cho. Kiro picked the song-"Doll" by Terra.  
>The movement came easily for me, as I loved the song and was able to move along with it. Cho, though she had been the one to take dance lessons, was having a bit more trouble. Her body knew what to do though, and we ended up with matching scores. The entire group was laughing as we left the arcade around 10:30.<br>"So," Strify began when we reached my, Cho's, and Ai's hotel room. I stopped, letting the others go on ahead of us.  
>"Yes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.<br>"Was that good enough? I mean, did you have fun?" he asked. He looked more nervous than I had ever seen him.  
>I smiled and stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his neck. "It was perfect," I murmured against his ear, my voice vibrating across his skin.<br>He shivered and pulled back to kiss me deeply.  
>"Goodnight, Saya," he murmured against my lips. Then he was gone.<p> 


	16. Shooting

**M****ayonaka****Soñodora****Meets****Cinema****Bizarre****—****Saya****'****s****PoV**

**1****6-Shooting**

Except for Blake Lewis, the so-called "contest" went almost exactly as it had in Seattle. We played on Saturday night at Philharmonie-same songs, same order, and same result. Part of me wondered why the fans didn't just go watch Seattle's show on YouTube, but I tried not to dwell on it.  
>The sunlight was streaming through the picture windows on Sunday morning as I awoke to my favorite song, "Speakers Blown" by Hit the Lights. I rolled over-away from Ai, who was sprawled across most of the huge bed-to see the time. The digital clock read 13:24 in green letters.<br>Correction: The sunlight was streaming through the picture windows on Sunday morning as I awoke to my favorite song, "Speakers Blown" by Hit the Lights.  
>Cho and Bachiko were asleep on the other bed. Judging by the sound of the shower running in the bathroom, Fuji was already awake. I lay in bed a few more moments, then rolled over and paused my iPod, now playing "Disturbia" by Rihanna. Groaning, I rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen in search of poptarts.<br>When Fuji emerged from e bathroom, dressed in a green t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, I was munching happily on a Vanilla Milkshake poptart and watching the news, rare as that was. My feet were propped up on the lower bar of my stool, protected from the cold metal by the too-long legs of my skull-speckled, Halloween pajama pants.  
>"So, what's new?" Fuji asked, toweling her damp hair.<br>"Some psycho threatened a business guy last night," I replied, still staring blankly at the too-serious-to-actually-be-serious blonde reporter on the screen, "Y'know, the news here is more exciting than at home."  
>"That's because you never watch it at home," Fuji retorted, digging an orange out of the fridge.<br>I stuck my tongue out at her around my poptart, but I couldn't think of any witty comebacks.  
>"Will you two shut up?" Ai groaned from the pile of blankets arranged around her, "God, you're as bad as Strify and Kiro."<br>I grinned, remembering the discussion about chlorine hangovers. It was more amusing now that I was fully awake.  
>To appease Ai, I disappeared into the bathroom to take my shower. As the water smoothed out all the tangles and curls that the pillow had so kindly arranged my hair in, I noticed its length. My plan had been to grow the dark mass until it reached my lower back. All our running around in recent months had distracted me, and now my hair snaked all the way down to my hips. I cheered internally; I was more than ready for a substantial haircut.<br>Cho, Bachiko, and Ai were all out of bed when I returned to the room, though I couldn't exactly say they were awake. Cho had simply moved to the couch, probably to get away from Bachiko's movement-intensive waking rituals. Bachiko herself was munching slowly on the cherry poptart, last night's mascara smeared under her eyes. Ai simply stood in front of the fridge, completely motionless.  
>"Close the door; you're wasting energy," I admonished, readjusting my oversized Death Note t-shirt-featuring Near and his creepy, lovable dolls-over a pair of blue shorts.<br>"What's," Bachiko began, before a yawn interrupted her, "today's plan?"  
>"Haircut," I replied cheerfully, before anyone else could speak.<br>That woke Ai up. She spun around, staring at me in horror.  
>"You can't!" she protested, "that took you three years, and it's so pretty!"<br>I shrugged. "It's troublesome. Short hair is easier to deal with." Fuji nodded in agreement.  
>Cho, now sitting up, watched me as if I was dangerous. "How short?" she asked.<br>I held my hand up just under my chin, tilting it so that it was higher in the back. Cho's eyes widened.  
>"No way," she told me as Ai dived across the room and snatched up her phone. She assaulted the keyboard, firing off a text.<br>Just ten minutes later, there was a loud knock at the door. When Ai opened it, Strify pushed past her and grabbed me by the shoulders. "How short?" he demanded.  
>"Short," I replied simply.<br>He took a hand off my shoulder and ran it through my hair. The silky strands slid over his fingers, gleaming with the light shining through e windows. His expression was a mixture of disappointment and resignation.  
>"It's your hair," he said finally, his fingers still woven in it.<br>"Hey! You're not supposed to side with her!" Ai snapped, surprised and indignant.  
>I winked at her triumphantly and turned to Strify. "So, how should I do this?"<br>Somehow, I never thought I'd be getting my hair cut in Germany.

"It's so short," Ai whispered brokenly for what must have been the seventh time. She tugged gentle at the hair at the nape of my neck, which was only an inch long at the most.  
>I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. My head and shoulders felt ten pounds lighter, and I liked the way the soft, brown fringe tickled my neck.<br>"It does kind of suit you," Strify tried, brushing my bangs out of my face. From the look on his face, he hadn't adjusted to the sudden disappearance of two feet of hair.  
>I just wished people would stop touching me. It was really getting annoying.<br>Luckily, there was a knock at the door just then, drawing their attention. It was Yu; he was looking for Strify and Ai, as Kiro had insisted on going shopping.  
>Cho settled down on one end of the couch after they left, watching Toy Story 3, which Kiro had found for her in English. Bachiko and I curled up on either end of another couch-she had her nose buried in The Woman Who Rides like a Man by Tamora Pierce, and I read Seizure by Kathy Reichs. Fuji sat at the kitchen counter with her laptop, typing away furiously.<br>Suddenly, a crack drowned out Woody's voice. I looked up at Bachiko to see her staring back at me. Confusion was clear on our faces, and Cho and Fuji mirrored our expressions.  
>"Was that...?" Cho began, standing up as a couple more loud cracks rang out.<br>Just as Bachiko stood up, the world seemed to speed up. Another volley of pops, and several small, black objects punched through the wall separating the room from the hallway.  
>One cut through Cho's arm.<br>Another slammed deep into Bachiko's stomach. MIT didn't reappear.  
>Bullets.<br>"Bachiko!" Cho shrieked as the girl crashed to the ground. Blood leaked from between Cho's fingers and from the ragged wound under Bachiko's ribs. Fuji ran for the first-aid kit, not wasting time by panicking.  
>I stood frozen in shock for a moment, but then my Medical Assistant training kicked in. I dived to the ground next to Bachiko; my hands shook as I applied direct pressure the injury.<br>"Keep the pressure on your own wound," I snapped at Cho as she reached to help me, "Your blood might not be compatible to hers; that would only make the situation worse."  
>Cho, trying not to look hurt, nodded and drew back. Fuji reappeared then, holding the first aid kit and clamping her cell phone between her ear and shoulder. She was rattling off information to the dispatcher on the other end in the calmest voice she could manage. I hoped the dispatcher spoke English.<p>

The next two hours of rushing to the hospital and being questioned was a blur. I felt blank and cold, but vivid memories flashed through my head every time I looked down at my shirt, where Near's white hair and clothing was stained red with blood.  
>Bachiko went through surgery and then to the ICU. Cho's arm was bandaged, painkillers were prescribed, and she was released. Shin and Romeo showed up then, and Romeo took us back to the hotel while Shin waited for Bachiko to wake up.<br>"He really loves her, doesn't he?" Romeo remarked softly, watching Shin as he sat beside Bachiko's bed, her limp hand in his.  
>"He really does," Cho replied in a murmur.<br>I was still in a sort of daze as I showered again and changed into black jeans and I dark blue tanktop. At the edge of mu consciousness, I was glad I'd cut my hair when I had and didn't have to tease out clots of blood now.  
>Ai, Strify, Yu, and Kiro were in the room when I left the bathroom. Cho was already asleep in her bed, where she'd crashed after showering and changing into an oversized Nevada Wolfpack t-shirt and a pair of blue basketball shorts. Kiro lay next to her, running his fingers through the wet hair fanning across her pillow.<br>"We'll go get a cab," Strify said softly, seeing the look on my face. Taking Yu by the arm, he walked away. At the door he stopped, looking back at Kiro. Kiro glanced at him and shook his head before focusing on Cho's sleeping face again.  
>Ai led me back into the bathroom, shutting the door between us and the two on the bed. "Are you okay?" she asked gently, concern shining in her big, blue eyes.<br>I shook my head, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I was scared, stunned, frustrated, useless, and more than a little shaken up. For the first time in years, I felt tears threatening to spill. I let them, and Ai pulled my into her arms, letting me sob into her shoulder.


	17. Concert Cruise

**Mayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**17-Concert Cruise**

It took Bachiko a little over two months to recover from her wound. When she was released from the hospital in Berlin, we returned to Seattle, accompanied by Cinema Bizarre. As turned out, the psycho on the news had been serious about taking out the businessman-he just didn't know exactly were the guy was.  
>Bachiko and Cho's injuries had two results. While they recovered, Cherry Tree gave us some time off and kept the media away as much as possible. At the same time, we gained more fans as people worldwide caught wind of the story.<br>A week before Cho's birthday, DJ Rob had called with our first possible gig in two months. The next day found the five of us and the guys waiting at the house. DJ Rob was overly-sensitive to Bachiko's situation and had insisted on meeting where she would be most comfortable.  
>All ten of us were scattered around the living room. Ai and Yu sat on the couch with its back against the window, looking over their shoulders every few minutes in search of the familiar green Camaro. Shin slumped in the armchair next to them with Bachiko in his lap. She was curled against his chest, still paler and more tired than usual. Strify and Romeo perched on the bar stools, watching the group from above rather than focusing on the driveway. Cho and Kiro lounged on the beanbag chair in front of the TV, absentmindedly watching Ouran High School Host Club. Fuji and I sat cross-legged on the floor, playing War with my deck of Death Note cards.<br>"Mine!" I squealed, looking at my L-the Jack-and her Misa-the Queen-lying next to each other on the ground.  
>"No, L is the Jack," she reminded me.<br>I rolled my eyes. "So? L is better than Light, so I think we should switch their values."  
>Fuji stared at the cards, obviously struggling between agreeing with me and winning this round. L won.<br>"Fine," she sighed, "but next time, tell me before we start."  
>Grinning, I snatched up the two cards. Before we could lay out the next matchup, the doorbell rang.<br>"He's here!" Ai cheered, jumping up. She hurried to the door and opened it, admitting our manager. Fuji and I looked at each other, tacitly agreeing to finish the game later. We set the card stacks on the table and joined the gaggle surrounding the new arrival.  
>"What've you got for us," Cho asked eagerly. Her fingers were twitching as if she itches to start playing her bass immediately.<br>DJ Rob laughed. "Hold your dragons; I just got here," he admonished Cho.  
>His twist on the cliché stopped her short. "Dragons?" she repeated, confused, as he walked past her to the stools.<br>"Alright, here's what I've got," he began, sitting and facing us, "It's not big, but it is interesting. This weekend, the yacht club is having a fundraiser. It's a three-day concert cruise to promote local clubs, and they want you guys-" he pointed around the entire group "-to perform."  
>"When?" Cho demanded instantly. Excitement gleamed in her eyes; she couldn't wait to get back to work.<br>DJ Rob smiled, pleased to see that we were up to the job. "Next weekend," he replied, "so I suggest you all start packing." He left after giving us a few more details.

That Saturday, we all found ourselves waiting at the docks as the staff of the fundraiser prepared one of the Seattle Yacht Club's biggest and best boats. Cho was practically drooling as she stared at the sleek white craft.  
>"She's pretty, isn't she?" I asked teasingly.<br>Cho nodded. I thought I could see a puddle forming around her tongue. Yuck.  
>"Alright, you guys are ready?" DJ Rob asked for confirmation, shifting his own bag on his broad shoulders.<br>Ai nodded eagerly, squeezing Yu's hand. I just grinned as I watched black-clad figures running back and forth on the deck. Few minutes later, a guy with shaggy, dark blonde hair motioned for us to board.  
>I shared a cabin with Ai and Fuji. Bachiko and Cho had the room next to us, and the guys, including DJ Rob, took the three rooms across the hall.<br>After dropping off our stuff, we went to check out the stage. It was already late afternoon and we would be going on in just a couple hours. It was prep time.  
>As usual, we all scrambled. Tonight our only help consisted of DJ Rob and a waiter who also happened to be a techie. I spent almost an hour trying to figure out where cords belonged, and I wanted to pull my hair out by the time we went to change.<br>"So? How do I look?" Ai asked, turning to show off her navy Daisy Dukes and white blouse. A white beret sat at a jaunty angle and her long legs ended in tall black boots. She was nervous, seeing as her cosmetology skills had gone unused for several weeks. Her perfect, navy blue eyeliner testified that she hadn't lost her touch.  
>"You look fine," Cho grumbled, readjusting her long, sky blue top over black skinny jeans. Her brown boots matched her Shoshone necklace and long, sleek hair. Several silver bracelets clinked together on her wrists as she moved, adding to her own personal music of mayhem. A line of purple eyeliner made her green eyes pop.<br>"Are you guys done yet?" Bachiko pouted. She had flopped on the couch upon entering the room, wearing a tanktop with roses constructed of sequins and denim Daisy Dukes over black leggings. High-tops completed the ensemble and she wore her hair clipped back and gently waved. Spokes of light blue shimmer eyeshadow radiated from the corners of her eyes, giving her an ethereal look.  
>"They're never ready," Fuji reminded her. She was dressed in a forest green cami under a white burnout top with light-wash blue jeans. White boots hugged her calves; Ai had talked her into wearing them despite the fact that they were incongruous with her usual style. Her long hair was mostly straight, though it twisted a bit towards the ends. Silver bobbi pins and silver eyeliner completed her almost angelic ensemble.<br>"They'd better finish soon, because we have to be on stage in five minutes," I commented, applying a sheen of soft pink lip gloss. I wore a white, long-sleeved t-shirt with a hood over a teal cami and blue denim Daisy Dukes. My favorite tall, black boots encased my lower legs and a black lace choker hugged my neck. My now-short hair was perfectly messy, and thick black eyeliner finished the look. I was nervous, especially since this would be my first public appearance with short hair. After two months, it was already starting to grow out again.  
>"Ok," Ai said finally, clapping her hands together as she stood and headed for the door, "What are we playing first?"<br>"'Don't Wanna Be Romeo and Juliet'," I replied, having memorized the set list. We would play five songs each night, beginning with our first hits and finishing with new material.  
>"Sweet! My favorite!" Bachiko cheered, dancing her way through the doorway.<br>"That's just because it's the only serious song you've ever written," Cho teased, following her.  
>Bachiko shot a grin over her shoulder at the bassist as she danced down the corridor after Ai, now singing the theme song for one of our high school projects, Skank TV. I know that sounds bad, but it was just a couple of comedy skits. We never did get to the "special Halloween episode."<br>Bachiko continued to sing as we emerged on the deck. Needless to say, we got more than a few strange looks. She didn't stop until just before we went on stage. As DJ Rob introduced us, Ai slapped a hand over Bachiko's mouth.  
>"Ow," the little terrorist complained when the guitarist finally removed her hand to ascend the short flight of stairs.<br>"Alright guys, I know you're all having as much fun as you possibly can, but who's ready to add the soundtrack?" I asked the crowd. They cheered as Ai and Cho began to weave the opening notes into the still-bright evening air, beginning the intricate dance of chords and crescendos.  
>We played through "Don't Wanna Be Romeo and Juliet," "Wild Ride," "Shadow of My Reflection," "Never There," and the ever-popular "Midnight Dreamers.". Cinema Bizarre followed us with "Lovesongs (They Kill Me)," "Forever or Never," "Dysfunctional Family," "Get Off," and "Angel In Disguise.". After that we were required to mingle for a bit, but then we returned to our cabins to crash.<br>"You looked like you were having fun tonight," Strify commented as we reached the below-deck corridor. He was smiling gently, his eyes alight with something I couldn't identify.  
>"It's been a while," I said simply. I might have said more, but a yawn interrupted me.<br>"You'd better get some sleep," Strify chided. He ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead before leaving me at the door of my shared room.  
>"Night," I called to his retreating back.<br>Inside the room, I just had time to grab my iPod and hit play before I fell asleep to "Naraku no Hana" by Eiko Shinamiya.

"Wake up, you sleepy brat!"  
>That, accompanied by a pillow slamming into my head with at least 10 pounds of force behind it, was my wake up call the next morning. I sat up with a yelp, jerking my earbuds-and consequently the sound of Stefy's "Fool for Love"-out of my ears. Cho stood at the foot of my bed, poised to throw the pillow again. My first question of the day was how she had managed to retrieve it so quickly.<br>"What do you want?" I groaned, flopping back to my own pillow.  
>"Hello? We're on a boat. Get up and enjoy it! Besides, it's already noon," she chirped. Somewhere in the background, I could hear Fuji start singing a customized parody of "I'm On a Boat."<br>I rolled my eyes. "Fine...but make Foo stop singing that!"  
>Cho saluted and ran off. I sat up again, grumbling about the indecencies of "early" rising. As it turned out, I was the last one up.<br>I dressed in a bright blue Stereo Skyline t-shirt and a pair of grey denim shorts tied at the sides with black cords. I pulled my hair back with bobbi pins and left my face bare of makeup; I wasn't in the mood to deal with beautification. Grabbing a pair of dark blue flip-flops, I headed out on deck.  
>Cho was right-being on the boat was enjoyable. I leaned against the railing, relishing the gentle mist spraying in my face from our wake.<br>"You're Saya, right?" asked a voice from behind me.  
>I turned to see a boy about my age. He had shaggy, light brown hair and green eyes. A blue jacket and jeans clothes his solid frame. He looked at me with intense curiosity and a smile that just reached his eyes.<br>I nodded. "And you are?" I asked, wary and curious at the same time.  
>He smiled, lessening the intensity of his gaze. "George," he replied simply. I raised an eyebrow in skepticism and uncertainty, but let it slide. It wasn't impossible fir him to have such a seemingly banal name.<br>He stepped forward and leaned against the railing next to me. The breeze played with his hair, causing it to frame his face in the most attractive way. Discarding the thought, I returned my gaze to the tossing grey-green waves.  
>"You guys were great last night," George said suddenly, drawing my attention back to him, "Is there a story behind 'Never There?'"<br>"Yeah," I replied, trying not to yawn, "but you'd have to ask Ai about it. It's her song."  
>I closed my eyes, crossing my arms against the railing and resting my chin on them.<br>"So," George began again, "You live in Seattle?"  
>I nodded cautiously, wondering what he was getting at. Strangely, he sounded as if he was getting closer.<br>"Got a man?" he asked next, his voice low and right next to my ear.  
>My eyes flew open and I staggered back, nearly clocking him in the nose with my skull. My back hit something warm and solid before I could fall, and hands appeared on my shoulders to steady me.<br>"Yeah, she does," came Strify's voice from somewhere over my head, colder than I had ever heard it.  
>George looked peeved. "Whatever," he snapped, stalking away.<br>"Thanks," I breathed, turning to Strify.  
>"You're totally oblivious, aren't you?" he asked, his voice tinged with exasperation.<br>I nodded sheepishly, adding a self-conscious chuckle for good measure.  
>He sighed. "Alright then. Let's go eat."<br>The rest of the day was spent lounging about. Bachiko and I spent a couple hours on the deck with a group of kids who were there for a book club. At some point, Bachiko and an aggressing blonde girl found themselves in a heated discussion concerning Tamora Pierce's newest release. Ai broke it up when she appeared on the scene to drag me and Bachiko below deck. Prep time again.  
>Tonight Ai wanted to go with a scene-themed look-dark but colorful. She dressed herself in a loose black top with several rips in it over an electric blue cami. Dark grey skinny jeans hugged her legs, cutting off to show a pair of black high-tops. Her hair was down, streaked with blue brush-in dye. Electric blue eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner surrounded her eyes.<br>For tonight, Bachiko's color was hot pink. Tiny roses in said shade decorated the tunic top that hugged her torso and upper thighs before giving way to a pair of leggings in the same eye-abusing color. Her long hair was pulled back, and hot pink extensions mingled with the locks left hanging by her face. She wore silver eyeshadow, thick black eyeliner, and even hot pink lipstick.  
>Cho wore green tonight in the form of dark skinny jeans, which were topped by a black Cobra Starship t-shirt. Lime green brush-in dye frosted the ends of her long hair, accompanied by matching eyeshadow and the same thick black eyeliner. The bright color set off her tanned skin well.<br>Fuji wore a red tanktop under a black Beatles tanktop. Red skinny jeans and high-tops covered her legs, and she wore her black jacket tied around her waist. Her hair was pulled into a low ponytail, perfectly displaying her makeuped face with the dark eyeliner and raspberry red lipstick.  
>I wore Bachiko's usual orange. I'd always been told I looked good in the color, but I didn't like it much. Tonight, however, I wore a long-sleeved orange t-shirt over a black t-shirt with a burnout tiger across the front. Black jeans and my boots finished off the look, and orange eyeshadow paired with black eyeliner decorated my face.<br>Show time.  
>We went on stage at the same time as the night before. I saw George in the crowd. His eyes swept over us. Our eyes met. He smirked. I rolled my eyes.<br>I forgot him as Ai began to play, closely followed by Fuji and then Cho. Bachiko sang the intro next, and then it was my turn.  
>"I can't see the picture for all the pieces..."<br>We played through "Shattered Mirror," followed by "Not Pretty in Pink," "Keeping Me Alive," "Stranger," and finally "Empty Frame." Cinema Bizarre finished the night with "Blasphemy," "Modern Lover," "Deeper and Deeper," "Touching and Kissing," and "In Your Cage."  
>Like the night before, we all retired immediately after the required mingling. Tonight, however, it took a bit longer for Matchbook Romance to lull me to sleep with "Tiger Lily."<p>

The next morning's wake-up call was as different from the previous one as it could possibly be. The first thing I was aware of was fingers, soft but strong, brushing the tangled hair from my face. I forced my eyes open to see Strify next to the bed, a tiny smile playing across his lips. I almost laughed when I realized "Heavensent" was playing through my earbuds.  
>"Morning," he greeted sweetly, pulling his hand away.<br>"Morning," I returned around a yawn.  
>"It's noon," came Bachiko's voice from across the room. I shot her a glare.<br>"Man, I can't believe we dock tonight," Cho complained. She sat at the edge of the bed, leaning against Kiro and pouting.  
>I wondered why everyone was in the tiny cabin. Then I wondered how everyone managed to fit in the tiny cabin.<br>"C'mon, Sleepy," Strify urged me, "Early concert today. You have two hours."  
>I groaned and dragged myself from the warm cocoon of blankets. For a moment I wondered how we were going to pack, prep, and perform in the next few hours, but it proved to be too difficult. Poptart first, thinking later.<br>Luckily, Ai had taken care of things. She'd had a nightmare and woken early, so all that I had to do was remember the set list. We were performing new material today, and everyone was nervous. Ai changed her mind four times before deciding on our outfits-really, though, she just ran out of time.  
>She wore a black and white No Doubt t-shirt with white jeans and a checkerboard studded belt. Her usual black high-tops encased her feet and she wore terrycloth wristbands on both arms. Her hair twisted loosely down past her shoulder blades.<br>Bachiko wore her Cookie Monster jacket and a white t-shirt over a blue cami. For once she wore regular, light-wash blue jeans and a pair of orange flip-flops. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail.  
>Cho wore a plain, dark grey t-shirt and dark-wash blue jeans. She also wore her high-tops and her Shoshone necklace. Her hair was clipped back with silver barrettes and she wore blue eyeliner.<br>Fuji wore her black jacket with a blue Blood on the Dance Floor t-shirt of mine. She also wore plain blue jeans and high-tops. Her hair was pulled back and pinned out of her face.  
>I was no fancier. I wore a white Death Note shirt and dark-wash blue jeans with my black converse. An "ice blue" extension was pinned into my dark hair. As for makeup, no one wore more than a thin line of eyeliner and a sweep of lip gloss.<br>"Um, Ai..." Cho began, "I hate to break it to you, but this is how we usually look. Off-stage."  
>"I know!" Ai snapped, her nerves fried, "but I couldn't think of anything!"<br>I shrugged. "At least it's comfy," I remarked, leaving the room.  
>The deck was full that night. We played songs they had never heard before, hoping they would go over well. The set list was strategic, beginning with the high-energy "Can't Tell," followed by slower "Run," then "Looking Back," "The Sooner, the Better," and ending with fast-paced "Back to Summer."<br>Cinema Bizarre followed the trend. They played "I Came 2 Party," "Wasted," "This Time," "The Train Doesn't Come," and "The Black Rose."  
>As we finished, the boat docked. They remained on stage until most of the other passengers disembarked; then we all went to retrieve our stuff.<br>To my surprise, George was waiting at the end of the gangplank when we stepped on to the dock. He pushed his way through our group to me, the same intensity from before in his eyes.  
>"Saya," he murmured when he reached me. A pause. Then, "I'm sorry."<br>With that he disappeared, leaving us all confused and curious.  
>"What the hell?" Shin asked finally. His arm rested across the shoulders of an equally confused Bachiko.<br>I shrugged. "Let's go home."  
>Romeo and Fuji led the way back to the cars, into which we piled haphazardly and headed back into town.<br>I popped Blood on the Dance Floor's All the Rage into the CD player as we started off turning up "P.L.U.R." It blasted out the windows with our voices as we drove through the darkening streets.  
>It was good to be home.<p> 


	18. LoveGame

**Mayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV**

**18-LoveGame**

"No one's here. C'mon, the irony is just begging to begin," I urged Strify, pulling him around the side of a local church with Lady Gaga's The Fame clenched in one hand.  
>"It is?" he asked dubiously, stumbling along behind me. It was just the two of us today, armed with aforementioned powerpop album and a portable stereo.<br>Destination: St. James Cathedral.  
>Yeah, it sounds bad. In fact, it's awful. But the rebel in me just couldn't resist. Somehow, Strify had been roped into becoming my partner-in-crime.<br>As expected, the long, tiled, pew-filled hall was deserted. We hurried all the way to the front, setting the stereo-batteries included-on the first pew. Fumbling with nervous excitement, I popped the CD in and started it up.  
>The opening beats of "Just Dance" filled the air, loud and echoing. Instinctively, I started dancing in the open space, singing along at the long of my lungs. It took a moment, but then Strify joined me.<br>"Just dance, gonna be okay..."  
>"See?" I told him as my arms found their way around his neck, "Even Lady Gaga says it'll be fine."<br>He rolled his gorgeous eyes. "She always says that," he replied, brushing his lips across my cheekbone.  
>"Control your poison babe, roses have thorns they say..."<br>"Having fun yet?" I asked, a smirk tugging at my lips.  
>"Maybe a little," he teased, amusement playing across his features.<br>The song switched to "LoveGame" then, and I resumed singing.  
>"Let's play a lovegame, play a lovegame, do you want love or you want fame?"<br>"How about both?" I heard Strify murmur as if to himself, his lips pressed against the shell of my ear. I smiled.  
>"Hey! What do you think you're doing in the house of God?" shouted a voice suddenly, sounding both outraged and appalled.<br>We turned to see a young man with messy brown hair staring at us. He wore a black suit and an expression of horror.  
>A tiny part of my brain regretted my not-so-impulsive actions. The rest of me overrode that tiny part though, and I found myself giggling as I snatched the stereo and fled. I could hear Strify's sneakers slapping the paved floor behind me.<br>The sky was pale and grey as we burst through the double doors. For almost three blocks, we didn't stop running. When we did, we found ourselves outside a Starbucks. The patrons inside stared at us through the huge windows that fronted the café.  
>"You almost forgot this," Strify panted, holding out the jewel case of the Lady Gaga CD.<br>"Crap! Thanks!" I replied between gasps. Guess it's time to start working out.  
>"So," Strify began as his breathing steadied, "what now?"<br>I looked around. We were just a block away from the Chinese buffet where Lani and Mao worked.  
>"Let's eat," I suggested, smiling broadly.<br>He looked at the Starbucks, but I dragged him away before he could even ask what I meant.  
>"Hey Saya!" Lani called as we walked through the door.<br>She was sitting behind the counter, smiling widely. Mao sat next to her, also smiling. A grin that would make the Cheshire Cat proud spread across my face as I spotted their hands. Looks like Mao had finally made his move.  
>"So, this is your place, huh?" Strify asked once we were seated with full plates in front of us.<br>I nodded. "Pretty much. Lani and Ai hit it off the first time we were here, so we come back a lot."  
>I looked back at my working friends, a gentle smile on my face. "Then there's Mao. Even Bachiko could see right away that he was head of heels for Lani. Looks like it's all good now, ne?"<br>Strify smiled softly at me. "Yeah," he said, a little airily, "looks like it."  
>I was halfway through my General Tsao's chicken when I heard my own voice, singing "My Boy" but Buono. I looked up in surprise.<br>Strify was fumbling for his phone, blushing heavily. I felt another smile trying to steal across my face.  
>The call turned out to be from Cherry Tree. Bitch-manager had something to discuss with Strify and the other guys.<br>I waited in the lobby while the guys waited in Bitch-manager's office. About ten minutes after we arrived, I saw Bitch-manager emerge from an unmarked room. She looked much happier than the last time I'd seen her-her auburn hair glowed, her lips were full and red, and there was a bounce in her step. I could only stare as she flounced past, shooting me a cheery smile.  
>I stood in shock for a few moments. Before I'd recovered, another figure emerged from the room. I recognized the photographer from the pre-contest shoot. Suspicion formed in my mind.<br>"Oi," I called, startling him, "Are you Micah?"  
>He looked confused. "Yeah?"<br>I shrugged. "Just wondering."  
>He gave me a weird look before turning and walking away. Not long after that, the boys emerged. Strify and I rejoined each other among the group.<br>"So, you guys have any plans?" Kiro asked.  
>"Yeah, we're going to a movie with Ai and Fuji," Yu replied, gesturing to himself and Romeo. The size of Romeo's excited smile surprised me.<br>"Bachiko and I were going to make cookies," Shin admitted. A grin and a light blush both graced his face.  
>"Strify?" Kiro pouted.<br>"Sorry," Strify replied with a grin, "busy." I wondered what he was busy with. Me?  
>Strify and I left the studio, leaving the other guys and my little Honda in the parking lot. We walked down the street toward the bay. After about ten minutes, we passed a little perfume shop.<br>"'This is what love is made of.'" I read the ad aloud, my nose crinkling in disgust.  
>Strify laughed. "Do you believe in love?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.<br>I shrugged. "I dunno about that. I used to think it was just a combination of hormones and a love of possession-y'know, the way people love being able to say that something belongs to them."  
>We reached the shore as I finished my speculation. Strify was still looking down at me, his curiosity somewhat dimmed. We were silent for a moment.<br>"What about now?"  
>I stopped and looked up at him, really taking in his appearance. The wind blew his two-toned hair gently; it gleamed in the overcast sky's half-light. His incredible eyes were wide and anxious. His clothes, a pair of white jeans and a loose black button-down, were pressed against his lithe form by the breeze. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his lips were pursed, and his shoulders were hunched. Everything about his posture said he was hanging on my answer.<br>"Now..." I murmured, smiling a little, "I think I could believe."  
>He seized me in a flash, pulling me tightly against his body. My hands met each other behind his neck. Our lips connected briefly, feverishly.<br>"I love you, Saya," he whispered.  
>"I love you too," I replied, grinning.<p>

None of us really set out to fall in love. Like all great things, it just sort of fell into place.

FIN


End file.
